• Amit Sood, Kavita Prasad, Laveena Chhatwani, Eri Shinozaki, Stephen S Cha, Laura L Loehrer, and Dietlind L Wahner-Roedler.
• Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. sood.amit@mayo.edu
• Mayo Clin. Proc. 2009 Mar 1; 84 (3): 243247243-7.

ObjectiveTo assess attitudes of patients about participation in clinical trials.Patients And MethodsThis is a self-report survey of 400 patients who underwent general medical evaluations between September and November 2006 at a tertiary care academic medical center in Rochester, MN. We measured knowledge of access to clinical trials, attitudes toward participation, recruitment preferences, and beliefs about research integrity.ResultsOf 485 consecutive patients, 400 (82%) completed the survey. Previous participation in clinical trials was reported by 112 patients (28%). Most were unaware of online information about clinical trials (330 [82%]), were satisfied with their current knowledge (233 [58%]), expected their treating physician to inform them about current trials (304 [76%]), and showed equal interest in participating in conventional or complementary intervention trials (174 [44%]). Of the 400 respondents, 321 (80%) found it appropriate to be contacted by mail and 253 (63%) by telephone regarding study participation. Most patients (364 [91%]) wanted to be informed about research findings or else would not participate in future clinical trials (272 [68%]). The most frequently expected compensation was free parking (234 [58%]). Most thought that their safety (373 [93%]) and privacy (376 [94%]) would be guarded.ConclusionPatients are interested in participating in clinical trials but commonly lack adequate information. If patients received more information (through their treating physicians), enrollment might improve. This single-site study has limited generalizability. Future studies involving a diverse group of patients from a broader geographic distribution will help provide more definitive results.

16 keywords...

hide…