Abstract
Background: Many studies have reported on the information need and the seeking behavior of health professionals. However, there have been few reports on clinical trial information usage. Objectives: The purpose of our study was to understand the information-seeking behavior of health professionals and examine the desired provision of clinical trial information with a focus on Internet usage. Methods: The questionnaire was distributed to health professionals between March and April 2013 at three National Center hospitals in Japan and member hospitals of the Center for Clinical Trials of the Japan Medical Association. Results: Physicians mostly used the information provided by academic societies or medical journals, nurses mostly used information from colleagues and pharmacists, and CRCs mostly used information from the Internet. Although the proportion of the use of general medical information was higher than clinical trial information for each information source, the trend of information usage was similar between general medical information and clinical trial information among health professionals. Conclusions: It is suggested that the method of conveying information about clinical trials could be different ways among health professionals for its effectiveness.
Highlights
Until now, many studies have reported on the information need and the seeking behavior of health professionals [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
These have mainly been reported with respect to ordinary medical information usage, and there have been a few reports on clinical trial information usage [10,11]
More than 50% subjects were affiliated with the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, approximately 40% subjects were affiliated with member hospitals of the Center for Clinical Trials of the Japan Medical Association, and the other subjects were affiliated with the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry and the National Cancer Center
Summary
Many studies have reported on the information need and the seeking behavior of health professionals [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Some of them have focused on information sources [2,5,7] and the reasons why health professionals have access to these information sources [1,7,9] These have mainly been reported with respect to ordinary medical information usage, and there have been a few reports on clinical trial information usage [10,11]. On the other hand, when conducting clinical trials or research, health professionals have an important role. They introduce the option of a clinical trial to patients, decide which patients to refer, and give opportunities to participate in clinical trials. Some studies reported the barriers for health professionals to participate in clinical trials or research: their attitude, lack of resources and time, and concern about patients’ relationships [17,18]. There have been few reports on clinical trial information usage
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