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Little is known about data sharing preferences for care and research of behavioral health patients. Eighty-six behavioral health patients (n = 37 Latinos; n = 32 with serious mental illness) completed questionnaires, in either English or Spanish, with items assessing their views on privacy and sensitivity of health record information. Most patients (82.5%) considered mental health information as sensitive. In general, there was a direct correspondence between perceived sensitivity of information and willingness to share with all or some providers. A main motivation for sharing data with providers was improving the patient's own care (77.8%). Most participants (96.5%) indicated they would be extremely to somewhat willing to share their data for research with their care facilities and universities. Follow-up patient interviews are being conducted to further elucidate these findings.

We piloted a Spanish and English survey on data privacy. Thirty-one Latino behavioral health patients completed the survey in person with a preference for paper (78%) over electronic questionnaire. Dialect variations across Latino countries and the lack of tools to assess reading level in Spanish affected comprehension. Our experience will help others address similar tasks more effectively and encourage inclusion of Latino populations in future research.