The Likelihood of Participation in Clinical Trials Can Be Measured: The Clinical Research Involvement Scales

Authors

Paula M. Frew, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Su-I Hou, University of Georgia, Athens
Marsha Davis, University of Georgia, Athens
Kayshin Chan, The Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center
Takeia Horton, The Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center
Justin Shuster, The Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center
Brooke Hixson, The Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center
Carlos del Rio, Emory University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-19-2010

Publication Title

Journal of Clinical Epidemiology

Volume

63

Issue

10

First page number:

1110

Last page number:

1117

Abstract

Objective We developed the Clinical Research Involvement Scales (CRIS) to assess the willingness to participate in a clinical trial. Study Design and Setting Diverse populations (N = 919) aged 18 years or older from Atlanta, Georgia, were included in comprehensive testing of the 41-item CRIS instrument. The formative phase focused on item content for the new measures (n = 54). Questionnaires from potential vaccine trial participants (n = 865), collected at multiple time points, resulted in the evaluation of scale reliability and validity (i.e., attitudes, behavioral and normative beliefs, perceived social support for clinical research participation, social norm compliance, perceptions of the clinical research organization, and perceived relevance of the research endeavor). Results Qualitative testing revealed adequate comprehension and content validity of the initial item set. The subjective norms domain (n = 3) initially exhibited poor internal consistency in pilot testing (Cronbach's α = 0.525); yet, rewording of the items resulted in consistently stable measurement improvement (Cronbach's α = 0.850). Each of the CRIS subscales demonstrated extremely high reliability, ranging from 0.734 to 0.918. Confirmatory factor analysis verified item–factor relationships and determined construct and convergent validity (root mean square error of approximation = 0.068; comparative fit index = 0.835). Conclusions CRIS is a reliable instrument for measuring community attitudes toward participation in biomedical research studies. Results of this study support the use of these scales to recruit diverse populations to clinical trials.

Keywords

HIV; Psychometrics; HIV vaccines; Patient selection; African Americans; Women; Recruitment

Disciplines

Clinical Trials | Immunology and Infectious Disease | Virology

Language

English

Repository Citation

Frew, P. M., Hou, S., Davis, M., Chan, K., Horton, T., Shuster, J., Hixson, B., del Rio, C. (2010). The Likelihood of Participation in Clinical Trials Can Be Measured: The Clinical Research Involvement Scales. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 63(10), 1110-1117.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2009.12.002