Awareness and attitudes towards clinical trials among Polish oncological patients who had never participated in a clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Participation in a clinical trial significantly shortens waiting time associated with receiving specialist care. Furthermore, it may be the case that, through clinical trials, subjects can access medicines that are not typically available in Poland.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the opinions of oncological patients about clinical trials.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The research has been carried out during the years 2014-2016. A proprietary questionnaire consisting of 10 closed, single and multiple choice questions about awareness and perceptions of clinical trials, and 5 questions concerning demographic information was used. A group of 256 patients with cancer (54% women, 46% men), aged 21-77 years, was surveyed.

RESULTS: Respondents were statistically more likely to decide to participate in a clinical trial as oncological patients than the healthy volunteers (Pearson's χ2 test p = 0.00006). The desire to qualify for clinical trials in no way depends on the knowledge of side effects (Pearson's χ2 test p = 0.16796).

CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that the patients' awareness about clinical trials varied. However, a positive attitude towards research was visible. The main identified barriers to clinical trial participation were fear of possible side effects. Most patients regarded clinical trials as useful, and considered that they are conducted to introduce new treatment/new drug.