Greater Awareness and Knowledge of Clinical Research Increases Willingness to Participate in Future Vaccine TrialsAn Examination of the Enduring Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The devastating impact of COVID-19 pandemic, its fast-tracked vaccines and authorized treatments have led to more volunteers signing up to be part of clinical studies than any time in recent history. We sought to investigate the relationship between increased knowledge of vaccine clinical trials and willingness to participate in future vaccine trials. A convenience sample survey of the United States residents was conducted in May 2021. Over 1,100 adults completed questions about their knowledge of clinical vaccine trials and attitudes toward participation in future trials. A total of 1149 respondents completed the survey. The median age was 29. Amongst respondents, 47.9% were women. Over 85% had attended college. Most were married (60.1%). A significant proportion of respondents were of Hispanic origin (42.2%). Higher Knowledge Scores were observed for female respondents (p <0.001);>30 years-old respondents (p <0.001) and respondents with a bachelors’ degree or higher (p <0.05). Overall, the survey respondents felt that their COVID-19 pandemic experience had increased their knowledge of vaccine trials (807, 70.2%) and willingness to participate in future vaccine studies (677, 58.9%). In addition, over half of the respondents expressed willingness to sign up for a future vaccine study of any kind (51.5%) with another 38.0% willing to consider it. The findings from this survey confirms significant increased interest in clinical vaccine study participation in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic and provides actionable insights to improve outreach efforts with underrepresented populations in clinical research. Keywords: COVID-19; Clinical Trials Participat