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Updated: Jan 16, 2026

E-Patient Counseling Trial E-PACO: Computer Based Education versus Nurse Counseling for Patients to Prepare for Colonoscopy
Published on: August 1, 2019
An asynchronous electronic consent for improving consent in research among patients with cancer
Brendan J Chia1, Joao Paulo Solar Vasconcelos1, Daniela Hegebarth1
1Medical Oncology, BC Cancer, Vancouver Cancer Centre, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1K1, Canada.
Background:
Informed consent is essential to ensuring ethical conduct of clinical research in oncology, but can be challenging and time-consuming to implement. Electronic consenting (e-consent) may address these issues, but acceptability of e-consent among patients with cancer must be assessed.
Methods:
An asynchronous preliminary e-consent was developed for a prospective circulating tumor DNA testing study for patients with colorectal/pancreatic cancer. Following e-consent, patient satisfaction was assessed in a follow-up call before full consent was obtained. Acceptability was assessed with descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis.
Results:
Fifty-one participants completed the preliminary e-consent, 90% of which preferred electronic full consent over traditional consent. Comfort enrolling after e-consent was rated highly by 93% of participants. Additionally, 80% of participants indicated that a follow-up call had no impact on decision to enroll.
Conclusion:
These findings suggest that asynchronous e-consenting is highly acceptable among oncology patients but future work should assess comprehension with this approach.
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