Staff beliefs about drug abuse clinical trials.
Staff from 10 community-based addiction treatment organizations in the National Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network participated in an educational session about addiction research practices and human subject protections. This 1.5-hour presentation addressed "informed consent," "confidentiality of research information," "inclusion and exclusion criteria," "random assignment," "patient protections," and "patient payments." Pre- and postsession surveys were administered to 115 staff members measuring their beliefs about clinical trials. At baseline, 52% of staff believed patients could transfer out of a study even if they were doing poorly, and 55% believed staff had this right; 44% agreed that patients could participate in a clinical trial without understanding what would take place in the study. After the educational session, staff beliefs about patient protections were significantly increased in five of the seven items. A fourth of staff continued to believe patient payments were harmful, and 37% did not believe participation in a clinical trial would increase a patient's chances at recovery.
Treatment Research Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. bforman@tresearch.org
Robert F
RF
Forman
Gregory
G
Bovasso
George
G
Woody
Laura
L
McNicholas
Cynthia
C
Clark
Charlotte
C
Royer-Malvestuto
Stephen
S
Weinstein
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000941:ethics* / Q000379:methods*; D019058:Community Networks; D006801:Humans; D008503:Medical Staff / Q000193:education / Q000941:ethics*; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States