Adolescents' and Parents' Attitudes Toward Adolescent Clinical Trial Participation: Changes Over One Year

Factors influencing clinical trial participation for adult and pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis

There remains a limited understanding of the factors influencing clinical trial participation for individuals with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). A comprehensive survey was developed to examine the interests, preferences, and barriers/facilitators to research and clinical trial participation for CF patients. A consecutive sample of 198 CF adults attending the St. Paul's Hospital CF Clinic and parents of children with CF attending the BC Children's Hospital CF Clinic from Vancouver, Canada were surveyed. Parents of pediatric patients were less comfortable with blood collection, required more safety data prior to participating, and were more concerned about potential side effects. Very few respondents (<10%) appeared able/willing to fulfill the typical requirements to participate in a phase 1 clinical trial. Overall, there were more similarities than differences between the responses of adult and parents of pediatric CF patients. The patient-centered information can be used to inform the design of future clinical trials to enhance feasibility.

Attitudes of Mothers Regarding Willingness to Enroll Their Children in Research

This study assessed mothers' perspectives regarding research involvement by their children, factors that might affect perceptions of research risks, and attitudes regarding willingness to enroll children in research. Participants completed a survey on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Mothers were less inclined to enroll children in research involving procedures posing higher risk (regression coefficient = -0.51). Mothers without mental health issues with children without health issues were more sensitive to risk than mothers without mental health issues with children with health issues (estimated difference = 0.49). Mothers with mental health issues were more willing than mothers without mental health issues to enroll children in research (regression coefficient = -0.90). Among mothers with mental health issues, having a child with a health issue was associated with increased willingness to enroll in research, compared with having children without health issues (estimated difference = 0.65).

Adolescent and Parent Perceptions about Participation in Biomedical Sexual Health Trials

Given the burden of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections among adolescents who are legal minors, it is critical that they be included in biomedical sexual health trials to ensure that new prevention and treatment interventions are safe, effective, and acceptable for their use. However, adolescents are often not well represented in clinical trials. We provide an overview of the available evidence regarding adolescent and parent willingness for adolescents to participate in biomedical sexual health trials, parental involvement in the permission-consent process, management of differences and discord among adolescents and parents, and parental involvement throughout the study period. We also outline recommendations for current practice and areas for future research.

Parent Perceptions of and Preferences for Participation in Child Health Research: Results from a Pediatric Practice-Based Research Network

BACKGROUND

Recruitment efforts for child health research are often based on assumptions, therefore improving knowledge about parents' perceptions and preferences could enhance engagement.

AIM/OBJECTIVE

1) To describe parents' perceptions about and preferences for participation in child health research within a pediatric practice-based research network (PBRN), and 2) to investigate any associations with the presence of on-site PBRN research staff, office location, and child age.

METHODS

We conducted a 2-phase study with a convenience sample of parents from diverse office settings. Phase 1 was a qualitative assessment using semistructured, in-person interviews. Phase 2 consisted of a quantitative self-administered survey assessing: 1) perceptions of importance, benefits/motivations, and risks/barriers of child health research, and 2) preferences for recruitment method and enrollment location.

RESULTS

Parents (n = 627) uniformly perceived child health research to be important in prevention (89%), diagnosis (89%), and treatment (92%). They were motivated to participate most commonly by altruism and rarely by compensation. Parents perceived side effects (60%), discomfort (52%), and time (45%) as the main risks of participation. Most parents preferred to learn about research opportunities at their pediatric office (70%), and if interested, to enroll their child in their pediatric office (57%) or in their home (52%). Parents were significantly more altruistic and interested in participation in offices with on-site PBRN research staff and greater proximity to the University.

CONCLUSIONS

Child health researchers could enhance participation by using recruitment resources and enrollment strategies that match parent preferences, including engagement by on-site PBRN staff.