MediciGlobal

A 2010 release of survey data collected in 2008 by an India-US CRO, reported that 56% of patients in India were not aware of clinical research prior to participating in a study. The survey also showed that 97% of patients understood the informed consent form (70% very well, 27% well) and 97% of patients first learned about the clinical study via physician, vs. just 23% in the United States.

How do you interpret the brief results reported on India? Are these findings consistent with your recruitment approach in India? Here’s the link to the 2008 survey that was released today, March 6, 2010.

http://www.desitoob.com/first-survey-made-public-on-the-understanding-and-experiences-of-clinical-research-volunteers-in-india/

When considering these data, a number of considerations come to mind…

1. If 44% of patients were aware of clinical research before clinical trial participation, it appears that general awareness for clinical research in India is exceedingly high—or could this data be somewhat misleading?—For example, is there a selection bias in who is approached to be in clinical trials in India—are patients most likely to be approached those with a higher level of education? With Pharmaceutical and CRO companies focused on informed consent practices in India, education and literacy are important aspects of understanding a clinical trial informed consent and may be a further reason why awareness of clinical research was high.

2. The survey reports that Indian patients find out about a clinical research opportunity from their physician and this was a stark difference to data in the US. This is perhaps not surprising, since until twenty years ago direct-to-patient communications about clinical trials in the US did not exist, yet now it contributes significantly to the patient recruitment process.

And while physician based referrals and site data mining may be predominant in India at this time, consider the fact that the Internet is playing an important role in both general health and clinical trial awareness in this country. What do you think?