Factors Influencing Participation in Clinical Trials: Emergency Medicine vs. Other Specialties.

Introduction Although there has been considerable research investigating the factors that influence patients’ decisions to participate in clinical research, there are few data as to how these factors apply to Emergency Medicine (EM) research. This study’s purpose was to investigate factors that influence EM patients’ decisions to participate in clinical trials and whether these factors differ from those of other medical specialties. Methods A survey was distributed in EM, Family Medicine (FM), Infectious Disease (ID) and Obstetrics/Gynecology (OB/GYN) outpatient waiting areas. Those eligible for inclusion were patients 18 years of age or older and able to complete the survey without assistance. All responses were on a five-point Likert scale of “0-4” with “4” representing the factor with greatest significance to the respondent. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to identify differences in participants’ responses. Results A total of 2,893 eligible subjects were approached; 1,841 surveys were included in the final analysis. Statistically significant differences (p≤0.009) were found for eight of the ten motivating factors between EM and one or more of the other specialties. EM respondents were less likely than their colleagues in other specialties to rate their relationship with their doctor or their doctor’s reputation as an important motivational factor. EM’s ranking of “how well the research was explained” and whether “the knowledge learned would benefit others” as their top two motivating factors was similar across specialties. All nine barriers showed statistically significant differences (p≤0.008), between EM and one or more other specialties. Participants from all specialties indicated “risk of unknown side-effects” as their strongest barrier. Among the six resources assessed that help patients decide whether to participate in a clinical trial, only one scored statistically significantly different for EM (p<0.001). EM patients ranked “having all material provided in my own language” as the most helpful resource. Conclusions There are significant differences between EM patients and those of other specialties in the factors that influence them to participate in clinical research. Providing material in patients’ own language, explaining the study well and elucidating how their participation might benefit others in the future may help improve enrollment in EM-based clinical trials.