Asian Americans are less likely than their white peers to participate in health research involving MRIs and addressing this hesitancy could improve research, according to a Rutgers Health-led study. Findings by the researchers, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, a journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, surveyed older adults about their experiences and perceptions of MRI brain imaging scans, their desire to learn results of scans and their attitudes related to dementia and overall research participation.

According to the study, South Asian older adults – those 65 and older – are less likely than older white adults to believe that healthy people should participate in research studies when it may not benefit them. South Asian and East Asian older adults also have less desire to learn about findings from an MRI brain scan – commonly used in clinical research studies – than older white adults. To read the full story.