Cross-sectional assessment of patient attitudes towards participation in clinical trials: does making results publicly available matter?

• Published in: BMJ open 2016-11, Vol.6 (11), p.e013649-e013649
• Main Authors: Jones, Christopher W, Braz, Valerie A, McBride, Stephen M, Roberts, Brian W, Platts-Mills, Timothy F
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Attitudes; Clinical trials; Clinical Trials as Topic; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Education; Ethics; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Informed Consent; Male; Middle Aged; Motivation; New England; Participation; Patient Participation - statistics & numerical data; Patients; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 2044-6055; 2044-6055
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013649

ObjectivesPrevious studies have shown that a majority of patients cite altruistic motives, such as contributing to generalisable medical knowledge, as factors motivating clinical trial participation. We sought to examine the impact of making trial results publicly available on patients' willingness to participate in clinical research.DesignCross-sectional analysis using a questionnaire developed by a panel with expertise in publication bias, informed consent and survey design.SettingA single urban, academic emergency department (ED) in the Northeastern USA.Participants799 ED patients.Outcome MeasuresWe assessed (1) participants' attitudes towards clinical trial participation, and (2) the impact of whether study results would eventually be made publicly available or not on willingness to participate in a trial.ResultsOf 799 patients surveyed, 36% (95% CI 32% to 39%) reported that they would generally like to participate in a trial, and another 50% (95% CI 47% to 54%) reported that they would consider participation depending on study details. For the majority of participants, the publication of trial results was either important (36%; 95% CI 33% to 40%) or very important (48%; 95% CI 44% to 51%). Most (63%; 95% CI 59% to 66%) reported they would be less likely to participate in a trial if investigators had not publicly released results from a prior study. Additionally, 85% (95% CI 82% to 87%) felt that it was important or very important to receive information about the publication track record of sponsors and investigators during the informed consent process.ConclusionsThe majority of patients in this sample would consider participation in a clinical trial. Patients value the public release of trial results, and believe that the informed consent process should address the possibility of non-publication.