Patient perceptions of participation in emergency medicine research projects

Objective To determine if ED research reflects patient expectations. Method A cross‐sectional ED patient survey. Results Three hundred and nine (98.1%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 95.7–99.2) of 315 patients believed that ED research was important. Two hundred and twelve (68.4%, 95% CI 62.9–73.5) would welcome involvement, only 26 (8.4%, 95% CI 5.7–12.3) felt pressured to do so. Two hundred and thirty‐one (75.7%, 95% CI 70.5–80.4) and 279 (91.5%, 95% CI 87.6–94.3) believed consent was necessary for observational and experimental studies, respectively. One hundred and one (32.4%, 95% CI 27.3–37.9) disagreed with medical records being accessed without consent. Conclusion Patient expectations are not always consistent with current practice. The expectation of consent prior to record access is worthy of further consideration.