Clinical trial knowledge among cancer survivors in the United States: The role of health information technology.

Abstract

e24039 Background: Clinical trials are essential in the evaluation of new antineoplastic therapies. However, studies have consistently reported suboptimal levels of clinical trial knowledge among adult cancer patients, and less than 5% of them participate in clinical trials. Health information technology (HIT) has shown promise in health promotion and may prove useful in bridging the knowledge gap in clinical trials among cancer survivors. Methods: We obtained data from 3,865 adults who completed the 2020 Health Information National Trends Survey of which 626 (16.2%) were cancer survivors. Using chi-squared tests, we examined the prevalence of HIT use in the general population and by cancer history. We also examined the impact of HIT use on clinical trial knowledge separately for cancer survivors and those with no cancer history using multivariable logistic regression models. Results: 63.8% of cancer survivors reported having some knowledge of clinical trials. Almost half of them used HIT to communicate with doctors (47.1%) and make health appointments (49.4%), about two-fifths (42.2%) used HIT in checking test results and 68.0% reported using HIT to look up health information online. In the adjusted models, the use of HIT in communicating with doctors [OR 2.79; 95% CI (1.41, 5.54)], checking test results [OR 2.47; 95% CI (1.12, 5.43)] and looking up health information online [OR 2.84; 95% CI (1.04, 7.77)] was associated with increased knowledge of clinical trials. Conclusions: Our findings suggest a positive association between HIT utilization and higher clinical trial knowledge levels. These results are encouraging given the rapid increase in mobile technology access globally and the increased use of HIT since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a potential opportunity to leverage digital technology in improving clinical trial participation by increasing knowledge levels.