• Kayla M Baker, Lucy Andersen, Molly McHugh, Anessa M Foxwell, Qiuping Zhou, Sarah J Ratcliffe, Liming Huang, Subhash Aryal, Christine Grady, and Connie M Ulrich.
• University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
• J Palliat Med. 2024 Nov 28.

AbstractBackground: This analysis examined regret from participation in cancer clinical trials (CCT) and explored associations between regret and symptom burden, symptom bother, therapeutic optimism, and the importance of spiritual beliefs. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from a study of American CCT patient-participants conducted from 2015 to 2019. Descriptive statistics, bivariate associations, and logistic regression were used to evaluate regret in this sample (n = 325). Results: About 10% of the sample reported regret. Younger age, increased symptom burden, increased symptom bother, increased severe symptoms, and a lower level of therapeutic optimism were significantly associated with regret (p < 0.05) compared to those who did not experience regret. The final regression model identified that younger age, symptom burden, and therapeutic optimism significantly predicted regret (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Understanding regret among research participants may improve CCT retention and ensure ethical research practices. Symptom experiences may play a key role in experiences of regret in CCT participation.

6 keywords...

hide…