Study of the media's potential influence on prospective research participants' understanding of and motivations for participation in a high-profile phase I trial

Purpose: To describe prospective participants' initial source of information about, understanding of, and motivation to participate in a phase I clinical trial of the antiangiogenesis agent human recombinant endostatin. Patients and Methods: We surveyed 100 of 130 persons referred to the endostatin trial between October 1999 and November 2000 and analyzed media coverage of the agent from 1997 to 2000. Results: Forty-seven percent of survey respondents first heard about the trial from media reports. Fifty-one percent of these subsequently contacted their physicians. Thirty-three percent of respondents correctly understood the purpose of the trial. Seventy-nine respondents were interviewed before they met trial investigators to discuss the trial. Of these, those who first heard about endostatin from the media were five times more likely to understand correctly the trial's purpose than those who first heard from other sources. Seventy-four percent (70 of 95) of respondents cited hope for personal benefit as the main reason for their willingness to enroll. Those who first heard about endostatin from the media were no more motivated by hope of personal benefit (77%) than those who first heard from other sources (71%) (P = .46). Ninety-nine percent of all respondents cited "joining the study gives me hope" as a contributing factor in their decision making about the trial. Conclusion: Media coverage prompted prospective participants to contact their physicians but did not seem to hinder understanding nor could it be shown to heighten their hope for personal benefit.