Audience Segmentation as a Strategy for Enhancing the Use of Research Registries for Recruiting Patients into Clinical Trials

Abstract Introduction Health research registries have great potential to increase awareness of research opportunities among diverse patient populations and reduce disparities in clinical trial accrual. However, little research has focused on patients’ intentions to participate in clinical trials once they are enrolled in the registry and their intentions to remain in the registry over time. Methods Patients (N = 312) enrolled in a university-based health research registry (i.e., Consent2Share) in the southeastern region of the US participated in an online survey. Results Health research registry knowledge, perceived values (i.e., social values, benefits, barriers), self-efficacy, trust, having chronic health concerns, and consent recall were positively correlated with intentions to remain enrolled in the research registry and participate in future clinical trials. Health research registry consent recall had significant positive associations with registry knowledge, perceived values, trust, registry retention and participating in future trials. Conclusion The process of consenting patients to the research registry is important for recruitment, health registry retention, and participation in future clinical studies. We identified key points of emphasis to expand participation in research registries as a strategy to increase clinical trial enrollment, such as deploying precision messages and tailored interventions.