Patients' Perceptions of Physicians Communication and Outcomes of the Accrual to Trial Process

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations among patients' perceptions of their physicians' communicative behavior during the informed consent interview, the patient's feeling of being confirmed by the physician and satisfied with care delivered by the physician, and the patient's decision to participate in a clinical trial or not. Respondents included 130 cancer patients who were eligible for a clinical trial and who had recently discussed trial participation with their physicians. Results indicated that a linear combination of the variables physician affiliative style, physician dominant or controlling style, patient satisfaction, patient confirmation, patient preference for decision making, patient desire for information, and patient age discriminate between patients who agree to participate in clinical trials and patients who refuse to participate. Physicians' affiliative communicative behaviors and patient satisfaction were clearly important to patients who agreed to participate. Motivations for patients who declined to participate in trials were less clear. Implications for physicians who offer clinical trials to their patients are that specific communication skills may enhance their patients' satisfaction and may help increase enrollment in clinical trials.

The challenge of recruiting patients with anterior cruciate ligament injury of the knee into a randomized clinical trial comparing surgical and non-surgical treatment

“…Demographic factors, such as age, race, gender and level of education have been shown to relate to patient's willingness to participate in clinical trials [3,4,[17][18][19]. We found no differences between patients accepting or declining participation in our study with regard to any of these factors.…”

Factors that influence the recruitment of patients to Phase III studies in oncology

“…This differs somewhat from the recommendations of many authors, who have suggested communication workshops and specific training for physicians who must discuss recruitment into clinical trials with patients. [27][28][29] Unfortunately, the results of such communication workshops have not been consistent. 30 For the relatively large group of academic oncologists at the HRCC who are involved in clinical research, communication skills may be relatively homogeneous.…”

Participating in a cancer clinical trial? The balancing of options in the loneliness of autonomy: A grounded theory interview study

“…The importance of a trusting and confident doctor-patient relationship as a part of any clinical encounter is undeniable, and in this interplay the physician's communication behaviours as perceived by the patient are of paramount importance [8,10,11,29]. However, problems arise when doctors are also researchers [6,12,25].…”