Abstract B092: Examining knowledge and willingness to participate in randomized clinical trials among patients with and without cancer
Authors: Pichardo Margaret , Ochieng Catherine A. , Romero-Ramos Yaideliz M. , Velazquez Ana I. 
Published: January 2023

Background Randomized clinical trials (CT) are often the major and only source of life saving treatment for patients with cancer. Knowledge and perceptions regarding CTs may be important determinants to patient’s decision to enroll in a CT. We examined predictors of knowledge and willingness to participate in a CT and compared these outcomes among patients with and without a history of cancer. Methods We used questionnaire data from 3,865 adults, ages 18 and older, who participated in the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 5 cycle 4. Predictors examined included sociodemographic characteristics (self-identified gender and race and ethnicity, age, education, and income), smoking status, and history of cancer. Overall knowledge and CT participation outcomes included self-reported level of knowledge (a lot vs. a little or don’t know), prior invitation to participate in CT (yes/no), and participation in CT (yes/no). We also explored sources of information, knowledge of clinicaltrials.gov, and reasons and motivators to consider participation. Among cancer survivors, we also examined prior participation in CT for cancer (yes/no) and prior discission of a CT as treatment option (yes/no). Weighted bivariate tests were calculated using chi-square tests. Result Overall, 50% of the population was female, had a mean age of 48.5 years, 50.2% identified as female, 38.1% had some college education, and 58.7% self-identified as non-Hispanic White. A total of 9.1% had a history of cancer. Majority of participants reported low levels of knowledge about CT (89.2% vs. 9.2% lot of knowledge) with similar self-reported knowledge between patients with and without cancer. Majority of participants had never heard of clinicaltrials.gov (90.5% vs. 6.7% had heard), never been invited to participate in a CT (87% vs. 8.9% had been invited), and if invited, 52% did not participate in a CT (vs. 45% reported participating). Among patients with cancer, 85% of adults had discussed a CT as a treatment option, but only 4.8% had participated in a CT. Majority of participants agreed “a lot or somewhat” that they would participate in CT because they were helping others (65.7% vs 31.1%), were encouraged by their doctor (64.7% vs. 31.8%) or family and friends (57.3% vs. 38.9%), desired to get better (84.8% vs. 11.2%), desire to try to kind of care (63.9% vs. 32.2%), and standard of care was not covered by insurance (65.4% vs. 30.5%). In bivariate analysis, variable associations between sociodemographic predictors and CT outcomes were found. Conclusion We found low levels of CT knowledge and access, despite high reported strong motivations to participate in a CT. By identifying factors that could be strongly linked to motivators of CT participation we could develop future interventions that guide cancer CT recruitment strategies.

Citation Format: Margaret Pichardo, Catherine A. Ochieng, Yaideliz M. Romero-Ramos, Ana I. Velazquez. Examining knowledge and willingness to participate in randomized clinical trials among patients with and without cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 15th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2022 Sep 16-19; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B092.