title: Who's doing the math? Are we really compensating research participants?
abstract: Although compensation for expenses to participants in research projects is considered important and the primary reason for paying, there is no evidence to support that investigators and IRB members actually calculate participant cost. Payment recommendations for six hypothetical studies were obtained from a national survey of IRB chairpersons (N = 353) and investigators (N = 495). Survey respondents also recommended payment for specific study procedures. We calculated participant cost for the six hypothetical cases both by procedures and by time involvement. A large percentage recommended only token payments for survey, registry, and medical record review studies. Most chose payment for pharmaceutical studies but the recommended payment did not compensate for calculated costs. Results suggest that compensation and reimbursement as the primary reasons for paying research participants may not match actual practice.
authors.affiliation: Division of nephrology, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. eripley@mcvh-vcu.edu
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ripley
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Macrina
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Markowitz
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gennings
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004341:Drug Evaluation / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics; D028744:Ethics Committees, Research; D005249:Fees and Charges; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection / Q000941:ethics*; D035842:Research Subjects / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States