Abstract
A goal of the Precision Medicine Initiative All of Us Research Program (AoURP) is recruitment of participants who reflect the diversity of the US. Recruitment from among blood bank donors, which may better reflect the demographic makeup of local communities, is one proposed strategy. We evaluated this strategy by analyzing the results of a survey of San Diego Blood Bank donors conducted in November 2015. Whites were more likely than nonwhites to respond to the survey (7.1 percent versus 3.9 percent). However, race was not a significant predictor of interest in participating in precision medicine research. Using census data linked to donors' ZIP codes, we also found that people who indicated interest in research participation were more likely to come from regions with higher educational attainment. Although blood banks represent a viable recruitment strategy for AoURP, our findings indicate that bias toward inclusion of whites and more highly educated people persists.
