Patient perceptions concerning clinical trials in oncology patients

Abstract Background Clinical trials are critical to scientifically evaluate promising new therapies in oncology, but patient accrual to these studies is persistently low. Patient preference plays an important role in enrollment in these trials. We performed this survey to evaluate the perceptions of newly diagnosed oncology patients about clinical trials and the reasons why they wish to or not to participate in these trials. Methods Patients were given a ten question survey reflective of their attitudes regarding clinical trials as a treatment option at their initial visit. The self-directed questionnaire was scored on an ordinate scale from strongly agree [1] to strongly disagree [5]. Results Ninety three patients were surveyed in the cancer specific multispecialty clinics in an academic center. Our patients expected their providers to discuss all information relating to clinical trials and eligibility at the first visit (65.4% agree and 15.4% neutral, p