, /PRNewswire/ -- A new study demonstrates that minimally invasive blood collection devices could increase the participation of people experiencing homelessness (PEH) in public health studies and clinical research. This finding, which was presented today in the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine's (formerly AACC's) , may help improve medical care for this historically underrepresented and underserved population. In public health emergencies caused by infectious diseases, studies known as seroprevalence studies are needed to better understand the disease in affected populations and inform targeted prevention measures.
These studies typically test blood collected from participants' veins. However, this collection method, which is known as venipuncture, is invasive and sometimes unsuccessful in participants who are underweight or have damaged or difficult-to-visualize veins. This can result in the exclusion of PEH from seroprevalence studies.
Compared to the general population, they are more commonly underweight and are more likely to have damaged veins due to intravenous drug use. During the 2022-23 outbreak of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox), PEH were disproportionately affected by severe mpox disease and mpox-related death. A team of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers therefore set out to conduct a seroprevalence study in PEH.
This team was led by , MD. Knowing that venipuncture is a barrier to PEH participating in public health studies, .
