title: The significant impact of education, poverty, and race on Internet-based research participant engagement.
abstract: Internet-based technologies are increasingly being used for research studies. However, it is not known whether Internet-based approaches will effectively engage participants from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.
  
  
  
  A total of 967 participants were recruited and offered genetic ancestry results. We evaluated viewing Internet-based genetic ancestry results among participants who expressed high interest in obtaining the results.
  
  
  
  Of the participants, 64% stated that they were very or extremely interested in their genetic ancestry results. Among interested participants, individuals with a high school diploma (n = 473) viewed their results 19% of the time relative to 4% of the 145 participants without a diploma (P < 0.0001). Similarly, 22% of participants with household income above the federal poverty level (n = 286) viewed their results relative to 10% of the 314 participants living below the federal poverty level (P < 0.0001). Among interested participants both with a high school degree and living above the poverty level, self-identified Caucasians were more likely to view results than self-identified African Americans (P < 0.0001), and females were more likely to view results than males (P = 0.0007).
  
  
  
  In an underserved population, engagement in Internet-based research was low despite high reported interest. This suggests that explicit strategies should be developed to increase diversity in Internet-based research.Genet Med 19 2, 240-243.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5429-3799
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hartz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Tiffany
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3781-9864
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Abiye
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0220-6435
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ibiebele
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Sherri L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6438-0079
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Olfson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Laura J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Bierut
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D005260:Female; D005823:Genetics; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000639:trends*; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty; D044469:Racial Groups; D012106:Research / Q000639:trends*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People