Only 14% of people have ever taken part in a clinical trial

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 70^th 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.