Research Assistants play a critical role in the implementation and day-to-day running of clinical trials. The objective of this study was to gain understanding of the experiences and problems encountered by research assistants (RA's) in order to improve the process of RA training for future clinical trials. This one-time focus group of eight RA's from different colleges was conducted during a national research agenda conference. Included were RA's directly involved in clinical trials who had patient-centered responsibilities, such as patient recruiting, interviewing, and data collection. After providing consent to participate in the focus group, the RA's were asked a set of predetermined questions regarding their thoughts and experiences related to administering phone screens, self-report questionnaires, and informed consent in clinical trials. Each of the participants was encouraged to respond freely and the entire interview was videotaped for qualitative analyses. Overall, the participating RA's felt adequately trained in telephone screening and administering informed consent, but thought they required more training in administering self-report questionnaires. The majority of problems encountered through their experiences dealt with a lack of information on the purpose of certain questions and inability to respond to patient questions. Even though members of this group were from different institutions and participated in various studies, they had very similar experiences within clinical trials, and found the problems encountered were common across studies.
This study was funded by the Consortial Center for Chiropractic Research under the Public Health Service Grant No. 1 U24 AR45166-01.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the learner will be able to: 1. discuss the experiences and problems encountered by research assistants 2. identify ways to improve the process of research assistant training for future clinical trials
Keywords: Clinical Trails, Chiropractic
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.