Journal of Religion and Health

, Volume 56, Issue 2, pp 623–634 | Cite as

Barriers to Cancer Clinical Trial Participation Among Saudi Nationals: A Cross-Sectional Study

  • Khalid M. Almutairi
  • Wadi B. Alonazi
  • Abdulaziz A. Alodhayani
  • Jason M. Vinluan
  • Mahaman Moussa
  • Abdulrahman S. Al-Ajlan
  • Khalid Alsaleh
  • Duna Alruwaimi
  • Nader E. Alotaibi
Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

This study aims to determine the factors that act as barriers to Saudi cancer patients in participating in a clinical trial (CT). A total of 244 patients from two different tertiary level hospitals (King Khalid University Hospital and King Fahad Medical City Hospital) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, participated in this cross-sectional study. The participants were interviewed by a trained researcher between September and November 2015. All respondents answered a three-part questionnaire which includes demographics, clinical information, and questions related to awareness of CTs, willingness to participate, and factors affecting participation in CTs. The mean age of the participants was 50.83, and 57 % of the participants were females. Most of the participants (63.5 %) were currently being treated for cancer, and 28 % were diagnosed with breast cancer followed by colorectal cancer. Health status or quality of life was self-reported as acceptable by 27.9 % of the participants, and 25 % of the participants at stage II of cancer. The factors that act as barriers to Saudi cancer patients in participating in a CT can be categorized into patient- and physician-related factors. Patient factors include lack of awareness, misconception and fear in participating in CTs; physician-related factors comprise of lack of encouragement from physician to patients in participating in a CT. The study identified few major barriers to participation in CTs. Increased patient awareness and recruitment strategies are required to increase accrual of patients including training for physicians and disseminating easy-to-read tools to the public.

Keywords

Barriers Cancer clinical trials Patient accrual Saudi Arabia 

Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for funding this Research Group (RG# 1435-024).

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Conflict of interest

The authors certify that there is no conflict of interest with any financial organization regarding the material discussed in the manuscript.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Khalid M. Almutairi
    • 1
  • Wadi B. Alonazi
    • 2
  • Abdulaziz A. Alodhayani
    • 3
  • Jason M. Vinluan
    • 1
  • Mahaman Moussa
    • 4
  • Abdulrahman S. Al-Ajlan
    • 5
  • Khalid Alsaleh
    • 6
  • Duna Alruwaimi
    • 5
  • Nader E. Alotaibi
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Community Health Science, College of Applied Medical ScienceKing Saud UniversityRiyadhSaudi Arabia
  2. 2.College of Business AdministrationKing Saud UniversityRiyadhSaudi Arabia
  3. 3.Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of MedicineKing Saud UniversityRiyadhSaudi Arabia
  4. 4.Medical Surgical Department, College of NursingKing Saud UniversityRiyadhSaudi Arabia
  5. 5.Clinical Laboratories Sciences, College of Applied Medical SciencesKing Saud UniversityRiyadhSaudi Arabia
  6. 6.College of MedicineKing Saud UniversityRiyadhSaudi Arabia

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