Based on the research from a survey of 2,000 UK adults, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has issued a call for more people to join clinical trials and get involved in research.
Only 14% of people have ever taken part in a clinical trial, despite 85% saying they want to help the NHS find better treatments.
The survey reveals a number of public misconceptions including:
- 23% think clinical trials are only for people who are ill
- 58% think children cannot take part in trials
- 38% think all trials involve testing a new drug
- 66% think you have to be invited to participate in a trial
- 27% think trials only take place in hospitals
- 40% do not realise that most hospitals in England undertake trials
- 40% do not know that patients and the public can help to design trials.
Over 56% of adults said concerns about getting a treatment that was not safe or had side effects would stop them from volunteering. But separate data indicate that the overwhelming majority of patients who participate in research have a positive experience (87%) and would be happy to take part in another study (83%)
A third of people said they had never seen any information on clinical trials.
For those who had, one in five said it had been in a GP’s surgery and a third said it had been in a hospital setting. This suggests that better access to information could help to increase participation.
According to the survey, seven in ten adults think the public should have a say in decisions around what research receives funding.
With the NHS celebrating its 70th birthday this year, the survey asked people what should be the NHS’s top three research priorities for the next 30 years, this is what people said…
- 68% of survey respondents said cancer,
- 58% said Alzheimer’s or dementia
- 32% said genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis.
Other priorities highlighted were:
- 24% Diabetes
- 17% Bone, muscle and joint problems
- 16% Depression
- 14% obesity
- One in ten selected HIV / AIDS
View the full case study here to find out how we carried out this research and the coverage it generated.
