Native Hawaiian Preferences for Informed Consent and Disclosure of Results From Genetic Research

Abstract
Informed consent is generally waived when using anonymous stored specimens in research because individual harm is minimal; however, group harm may arise if specimens contain ethnic identifiers. We assessed preferences for informed consent and disclosure of results from genetic research through a survey (N = 429, 83.2% Native Hawaiian). Native Hawaiians were more likely than non-Hawaiians to require informed consent for genetic research using personally identified (81% vs 77.8%), anonymous (40.9% vs 34.7%), and ethnically identified specimens (51.3% vs 33.3%). Most respondents wanted results reported to them (87.6%) and to their physicians (79.0%). Recognizing community preferences for informed consent and disclosure of research results may alleviate concerns about group harms inherent in genetic research.