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The effect of waiving consent on enrollment in a sepsis trial

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Abstract

Objective

Illustration of the difficulties in approaching critically ill patients for informed consent for inclusion into a randomized controlled trial and the impact of a waiver of consent from the patient’s next of kin in the conduction of such studies.

Design

Descriptive survey of the inclusion rates into the Ger-Inf-05 study before and after a waiver of consent from the patient’s next of kin.

Setting

Nineteen intensive care units in France.

Patients

Septic shock patients (n=300) included in a placebo-controlled randomized double-blind study on the efficacy and safety of a 7-day treatment with 50 mg hydrocortisone every 6 h intravenously and 50 µg fludrocortisone every 24 h orally.

Intervention

Introduction, 10 months after the beginning of the study, of a waiver of consent from the patient’s next of kin if it was not present at the time of the patient’s inclusion.

Measurements and results

The mean inclusion rate was four patients per month before the introduction of the waiver of consent and increased to 10 patients per month after the study amendment including the waiver of consent. Informed consent was obtained from the patient himself or herself in 10 patients (3%) and from next of kin in 70 patients (23%). For the 220 other patients (74%), the investigators could not contact the responsible relative within the inclusion period.

Conclusions

Recruitment rate in the Ger-Inf-05 study was clearly improved after the waiver of consent from the patient’s next of kin. This probably contributed to the successful completion of the study.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service de Réanimation Médicale, Hôpital Raymond Poincaré AP-HP, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, 104 Boulevard Raymond Poincaré, 92380, Garches, France

    Djillali Annane

  2. Service de Réanimation Médicale, Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal, 78303, Poissy, France

    Hervé Outin

  3. Délégation Régionale à la Recherche Clinique d’Ile de France, Hôpital Saint-Louis, 75010, Paris, France

    Caroline Fisch

  4. Centre d’Investigation Clinique INSERM 0203, Hôpital de Pontchaillou, Université de Rennes 1, 35043, Rennes, France

    Eric Bellissant

Authors
  1. Djillali Annane
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  2. Hervé Outin
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  3. Caroline Fisch
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  4. Eric Bellissant
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Djillali Annane.

Additional information

Two editorials regarding this article can be found in the same issue (http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00134-003-2063-x) and (http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00134-003-2064-9)

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Annane, D., Outin, H., Fisch, C. et al. The effect of waiving consent on enrollment in a sepsis trial. Intensive Care Med 30, 321–324 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-003-2065-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-003-2065-8

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