To assess reasons for participating in research among White, Asian, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) Hawai‘i residents.

Asian and NHPI communities have been historically underrepresented in US medical research. The state of Hawai‘i contains a high proportion of these groups, with less than 25% of its population reporting to be White alone in the US census. Understanding the factors motivating potential research participants to get involved in research can help increase diversity in future research.

Participants were recruited for the PPMI Remote research study at local community health and cultural events and at neurology clinics. Participants interested in PPMI Remote were given all necessary study materials and are asked to complete an additional survey. This survey contained questions about their demographics, their experiences with clinical research, and their reasons for participating in clinical research.

131 participants (Mean age: 67, Male: 29%) completed the survey. Of these, 35 self-identified as White, 92 as Asian, 14 as NHPI, and 1 as none of these. The most common reason for participating in research was, “To support local research efforts,” (76%) followed by “To help advance medical science.” (62%). Our data did not show a significant difference between the response distributions in the three groups (p=0.9585). 76% of respondents are first-time clinical research participants, with 75% reporting they would be interested in participating in future research studies.

Despite differences in racial and cultural backgrounds, Hawai‘i residents demonstrated comparable motivations for participating in the PPMI Remote research study. The desire to support research conducted locally appears to outweigh a personal connection to Parkinson’s Disease or specific interest in the PPMI Remote project as a motivational factor, particularly in the Native Hawaiian population. These findings highlight the critical role of local engagement and community anchoring in promoting research participation across diverse populations.