Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026

A Clinical Trial Assessing the Safety, Efficacy, and Delivery of Olive-Oil-Based Three-Chamber Bags for Parenteral Nutrition
Published on: September 20, 2019
Study design attributes influenced patients' willingness to participate in clinical research: a randomized
Thomas Agoritsas1, Marie Deom, Thomas V Perneger
1Division of Clinical Epidemiology, University Hospitals of Geneva, Gabrielle Perret-Gentil 6, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland. thomas.agoritsas@hcuge.ch
Objective:
To identify characteristics of clinical research projects that influence patients' willingness to participate in research.
Study Design And Setting:
We surveyed all patients discharged during 1 month from a Swiss public teaching hospital. We described four hypothetical studies and asked patients whether they would agree to participate. We randomly manipulated three study attributes in each vignette, using a factorial design.
Results:
All studies were not equally acceptable to the 1,277 respondents. A higher willingness to participate was found when a new drug had no side effects, no additional visit was required, balanced information was given, results were in the public domain, and the project was approved by a research ethics committee. In contrast, destruction of blood samples at the end of the project, use of placebo controls, and random allocation to study arms were associated with a lower likelihood of participation. The origin of funds, financial reward, the need to complete a questionnaire, and clinical vs. economic purpose of the study did not influence willingness to participate.
Conclusion:
Patients valued safety, convenience, oversight, and open communication in research. However, they were put off by some aspects that are valued by health care professionals. Educating the public about research methods may improve participation.
Related Concept Videos
Blinding
Bioavailability Study Design: Healthy Subjects Versus Patients
Randomized Experiments
Simple randomization
Simple...
Study Designs in Epidemiology
Observational studies are those where the researcher does not intervene but rather observes natural variations. They include cross-sectional, cohort, and case-control studies.
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast, controlled...
Bioequivalence Experimental Study Designs: Completely Randomized and Randomized Block Designs
