Understanding the attitudes of the elderly towards enrolment into cancer clinical trials

Abstract

Background: The optimal cancer treatment for an older population is largely unknown because of the low numbers of elderly patients accrued into clinical trials. This project focuses on the attitudes of the elderly about participation in clinical trials to determine if this is one of the barriers to the involvement of this population in clinical trials.

Participation in Clinical Research Registries: A Focus Group Study Examining Views From Patients With Arthritis and Other Chronic Illnesses

“…Issues of trust and, conversely, distrust were described by patients as considerations when choosing to join a research registry. In a 2006 study among elderly patients with cancer, researchers found that endorsement and conversely discouragement from a patient's doctor was one of the most important influences on a patient's decision to enroll in a clinical trial (16). Similar views were expressed in a focus group among a Canadian population of patients with neurologic conditions (17).…”

“…Several qualitative studies have been conducted to examine various aspects of patients' views regarding research study participation (13)(14)(15)(16). These studies focused primarily on participation in clinical trials.…”

“…Prior research has used focus groups or structured interviews to qualitatively analyze patient views on research participation, but those studies have focused on participation in clinical trials (13)(14)(15)(16). To our knowledge, only 1 focus group has previously been conducted to explore patient views regarding participation in registry research, and this group was in a Canadian population of patients with neurologic conditions (17).…”

Exclusion of Older Patients From Ongoing Clinical Trials for Hematological Malignancies: An Evaluation of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Trial Registry

“…However, a study on the attitudes of older patients toward enrolment in clinical trials demonstrates that, despite initial hesitation due to randomization, more than 75% of patients were willing to participate after additional explanation of the trial process [18]. Another study demonstrated that the amount of time spent with the patient (by the treating physician or a clinical research assistant) was identified as an import factor associated with the likelihood of participation of older patients in clinical trials [19].…”

“…Making inclusion more explicit could aid in overcoming the cancer specialist's hesitation in offering a trial. This approach will need to be suppletrun -1mented with a sustained effort by the research community to educate physicians on the need for and the possibility of enrolling older patients in clinical trials [18][19][20][21].…”