Résumé
Clinical research (CR) has developed and structured considerably in recent years with healthcare professionals being strongly encouraged to carry out clinical studies. Studies assessing patients’ knowledge about CR, as well as the factors influencing their participation are limited. Increasing the rate of patient participation in CR is a major challenge to limit bias and socio-economic costs. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether more information could modify their choice to accept or refuse CR. Secondary objectives were to describe their knowledge of CR, with a focus on legislation, consent and ethics committees. Material and methods: this was a prospective multi-center study using an anonymous standardized survey. It included all adult patients admitted to the anesthesia consultation for scheduled surgery. Three French university hospitals (Nimes Carémeau University Hospital, Strasbourg University Hospital, Institut Gustave Roussy Paris, France) and 3 private hospital (Poly-clinique Grand Sud Nîmes, Clinique Juge Marseille, Clinique MédiPôle Toulouse, France) have collected data. The survey covered medical and surgical data, knowledge of CR and feelings about hypothetical participation in CR. The impact of information on a potential participation in an anesthesia trial was collected. Age, gender, level of education, profession, knowledge of CR and reasons for potential reluctance to participate in a trial were recorded. Descriptive statistical analysis and inter-center comparaison by non-parametric test were performed. Results: from May 2023 to August 2023, 935 patients were enrolled on two centers (CHU Nîmes, Clinique privée MédiPôle in Toulouse). The other centers were in the process of recruitment at the time of this initial analysis. Of all patients, 146 (15%) patients would spontaneously agree to take part in a clinical trial with no difference between the center 1 and 2 (16 vs 17%, p=0.8). At the end of the survey, 169 (18%) patients agreed to take part in a clinical trial after being informed along the survey without difference between both groups (p=0.3), while 150 (16%) patients remained uncertain. Conclusion: these preliminary results show that patient acceptance of spontaneous participation in clinical research is low, with no difference between public and private. Better informing patients about clinical research remains an essential challenge, to enable an improvement in the participation rate.