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Abouelkheir M, Taha AE, Thirunavukkarasu A, Alkhamsan WSS, Almutairi FKS, Alanazi AAA, Alruwaili ALM, Alriwely NS. Knowledge and Attitude towards Clinical Trials among General Population of Northern Saudi Arabia during COVID-19 Era: A Cross-Sectional Study. Healthcare (Basel) 2023; 11:healthcare11050680. [PMID: 36900685 PMCID: PMC10001059 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11050680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Recruiting and retaining sufficient participants is one of the biggest challenges researchers face while conducting clinical trials (CTs). This is due to the fact of misconceptions and insufficient knowledge concerning CTs among the public. The present cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2021 to May 2022. We evaluated knowledge and attitude among 480 participants using a pretested Arabic questionnaire. The correlation between knowledge and attitude score was tested through Spearman's correlation test, and the logistic regression test evaluated the associated factors for knowledge and attitude. Of the studied participants, 63.5% were male and belonged to the age group less than 30 years (39.6%). Nearly two-thirds (64.6%) of them had never heard of CT. More than half of the participants had poor knowledge (57.1%) and attitude (73.5%) towards CTs. Participants' knowledge scores were significantly associated with education level (p = 0.031) and previous participation in health-related research (p = 0.007). Attitude scores were significantly related to marital status (p = 0.035) and the presence of chronic diseases (p = 0.008). Furthermore, we found a significant positive correlation between knowledge and attitude scores (p < 0.001, Spearman's rho = 0.329). The present study revealed that most of the study population had poor knowledge and moderate attitudes towards CT. Targeted health education programs at different public places are recommended to improve the public's knowledge of the importance of CT participation. In addition, exploratory and mixed-methods surveys in other regions of KSA is required to recognize the region-specific health education needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed Abouelkheir
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, Jouf University, Sakaka 72388, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +966-545311979
| | - Ahmed E. Taha
- Microbiology and Immunology Unit, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Jouf University, Sakaka 72388, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ashokkumar Thirunavukkarasu
- Department of Community and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Jouf University, Sakaka 72388, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia
| | | | | | | | | | - Nasser Saleh Alriwely
- Medical Service Department in Ministry of Health, Arar 91411, Northern Border Province, Saudi Arabia
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