I am not your typical clinical trial participant.
I glossed over the finer details of the informed consent documents.
I asked the study staff some very specific questions about the study design – what was the dosing for each treatment group?
I needed all of 10 seconds to decide that I wanted to participate in the clinical trial. I was excited to be on the other side of the research table!
For 12+ years, I’ve been helping researchers and companies digest their clinical trial data and explain them to healthcare professionals and patients. I’ve written about clinical trial participants and described their characteristics and outcomes, always striving to present the participant group accurately and neutrally (e.g., avoiding biased language).
And this year I had the chance to be a participant in a clinical trial of post-surgical analgesia (glad the awareness of opioid overprescribing is making its way through the healthcare system!). My main motivation for enrolling in the trial was curiosity – I didn’t think I was personally going receive a benefit from participating. Participating in a clinical trial made me feel even more invested in and curious about medical decision-making.
On the flip side, I realized that the payments that clinical trial participants receive may not truly compensate participants for their time and for their willingness to submit themselves to research. My son was eligible for a separate study that required 3 hours in person and a brief follow-up by phone, and they were compensating participants $110. With travel time and having to take off of work, I’m not sure how enticing that would be to the average American parent.
I’m excited to see how my clinical trial reads out in 2025. Who knows, maybe I could participate in the trial when the data are ready to be written up?!