Abstract
The study aims to explore the potentially influential factors affecting women's decision to accept/decline participation in surgical randomised trial using a novel acceptance/refusal questionnaire (ARQ). All women who were eligible to participate in SIMS-RCT were asked to complete the relevant section (acceptance/refusal) of the ARQ. Women reported its degree of relevance for their decision on a six-point Likert scale (0 = highly irrelevant, 5 = highly relevant). 135 (98%) and 31 (70%) women completed the acceptance and refusal sections of the ARQ, respectively. The most influencing factor in women's acceptance was the anticipation of "potential personal benefit"; percentage of relevance (POR) was 91.9%, followed by interest in helping others by "supporting innovative medical research"; POR was 87.7%. Most influencing factor in refusal for participation was "do not have time for follow-up"; POR was 56.8%, followed by "do not like the concept of randomisation"; POR was 54.4%. In conclusion, this study identifies the most influential factors relevant to women decision-making whether or not to participate in RCTs assessing surgical interventions for female stress urinary incontinence (SUI). A number of factors leading to refusal of participation are potentially correctable leading to better recruitment rates in future RCTs.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 139813 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-8 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | BioMed Research International |
Volume | 2013 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Bibliographical note
AcknowledgmentsThe authors thank Dr. Shona Fielding (Senior Statistician—University of Aberdeen) for the independent cross-checking of the data and statistical analysis. The authors thank “Henry Smith Charity” for their grant that enabled this study to be completed.