Willingness of a Sample of Health Professionals to Participate in Clinical Research as Research Subjects

Amel Ahmed Fayed

Background: Saudi Arabia has recently become more devoted to clinical research, which remains a relatively new and challenging area for researchers. Recruiting individual subjects in clinical research is believed to be an essential element in clinical trial success and is intensely dependent on the potential willingness of subjects to participate in clinical trials.

Methods: A cross sectional study of a purposive sample of 323 health professionals was conducted. The study participants included students of Nursing and Medical College, physicians, nurses and paramedical personnel. A validated questionnaire assessing the willingness to participate, motives, obstacles was used.

Results: In general, about 80% of the participants were willing to participate in clinical research. The highest percentage of willingness to participate was reported when participants were asked about their willingness to answer questions in surveys (90.7%). Nearly 80% of participants considered getting a free medical tests and appointments as important intensives whereas 69.8% supported financial incentives to be efficient in encouraging people to participate in clinical research. Weak positive though significant correlation was detected between level of trust in the research institute and willingness to participate in clinical research.

Conclusion: Overall, this study confirmed that the decision for participation in research is closely related to the nature of the clinical trials, people usually welcome participation in questionnaires and noninvasive studies but their concerns are major when deciding for their children. Saudi community favors the free medical services to financial aids as incentives to participate in research trials.