Hospitals, Pharma

Survey: Clinical trials would get more participants if docs informed patients about them

One more thing we need to add to the list of things we need free […]

One more thing we need to add to the list of things we need free from data silos: clinical trials. There is of course the transparency issue. But a new survey suggests that if more physicians told their patients about them, clinical trial recruitment levels would significantly increase.

More than two-thirds of Americans said it’s likely they would participate in a clinical trial if recommended by their doctor, but only less than one quarter said a doctor or other health care professional has ever talked to them about medical research, according to a national public opinion poll commissioned by Research!America and conducted by Zogby Analytics. Of the roughly 1,006 who were polled, 28 percent said they had experienced a serious illness within the past five years.

Although 80 percent said they had heard of a clinical trial, with a little more than half hearing about one through the Internet — an encouraging sign that the widespread efforts by some companies to use social media to raise awareness has been working. Only 24 percent had heard about one from a doctor or other health care provider. About 16% of those polled said they or someone in their family have ever participated in clinical trials.

It’s not so surprising that survey participants don’t admire clinical trial volunteers to the same extent that they do organ donors and those who donate blood because it’s not publicized on anything like the same level. When was the last time you saw a button saying “I heart clinical trial volunteers!”? Acknowledging an interest in participating in clinical trials would make a lengthy entry on a driver’s license and I don’t think I’ve seen a license plate with that logo lately. It just hasn’t entered the realms of pop culture on the same level.

Among the highest priorities valued by would-be clinical trial participants were:

  1. The reputation of the people or institution conducting the research and the opportunity to possibly improve their own health (89 percent);
  2. Whether medical bills are covered if injury occurs as a result of the study (88 percent);
  3. The opportunity to improve the health of others (86 percent);
  4. Their physician’s recommendation (80 percent);
  5. Privacy and confidentiality issues (79 percent);
  6. Whether they would be paid to participate (77 percent).

The Association of Clinical Research Organizations, Friends of the National Library of Medicine, Clinical Research Forum and the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative co-sponsored the poll.

That transparency issue is a nagging image problem that pharmaceutical companies are working to resolve. Roche and GlaxoSmithKline have said they will make their clinical trial data publicly available.

Electronic medical records offer  a useful way to start the conversation with some providers using EMR systems to help identify appropriate patients with whom to begin a conversation about clinical trials.

Shares0
Shares0