Accrual of cancer patients to clinical trials in minority populations is difficult. In Puerto Rico, less than 5% of breast cancer patients are evaluated to participate in clinical trials. Educational activities promoting patient participation in clinical trials are patient focused. This practice seems to have little impact on the accrual of Hispanic patients. To assess the role of the primary care physicians in the accrual of patients to clinical trials in Puerto Rico, a questionnaire was developed to evaluate their knowledge, attitudes and patient referral patterns towards clinical trials. A total of 40 primary care physicians participated. The mean age was 47.5, twenty-six (65%) were males and fourteen (35%) were females. Sixty percent (60%) were in private practice. Most physicians (87.5%) knew that there were clinical trials for cancer prevention, diagnosis, screening and treatment and most recognized (82.5%) that trials were available in Puerto Rico. The majority of primary care physicians (85%) did not consider clinical trial participants as "guinea pigs." All agreed that informed consent is a critical aspect of clinical trials. Furthermore, 62.7% did not believe they would lose patients if they participated in another institution's clinical trials. Interestingly, only 25% had offered clinical trials as an alternative to their patients. Most physicians recognized that the most limiting factor in recommending clinical trials to their patients was their own core knowledge about clinical trials. These results demonstrate that any campaign designed to increase accrual of minority populations to clinical trials should target primary care physicians in the community.
Learning Objectives: 1. Identify issues that affect accrual of Hispanic patients to clinical trials. 2. Discuss the knowledge, attitude and referral patterns of primary care physicians towards clinical trials. 3. Describe appropriate professional education activities to increase knowledge of clinical trial among health professionals working with Hispanics
Keywords: Clinical Trails, Hispanic
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.