Women's motivation to participate in contraceptive efficacy trials

We sought to determine whether there are differences in subject's motivation to participate in hormonal and barrier method contraceptive efficacy studies.

All women presenting for screening appointments for either barrier or hormonal contraceptive efficacy trials were asked to complete a survey including demographic questions and questions which utilized Likert scales to grade the importance of potential motivating factors for research participation.

A total of 72 hormonal and 36 barrier method subjects completed the survey. More women in the barrier group cited an altruistic reason as their primary motivator for participation in comparison to the hormonal group (61.2% vs. 31.9%, respectively, p=.004). This difference continued to be statistically significant in multiple logistic regression controlling for demographic variables. The most common primary motivating factor cited by the barrier group was the belief that research is important (30.6%), whereas the most common reason cited by the hormonal group was the desire for free contraception (22.2%).

Women enrolling in barrier method studies are more likely than women enrolling in hormonal studies to cite an altruistic reason for their participation in these trials.