Table 4.

ARTQ Items: Answers Are Yes, No, or Do Not Know

Do you think that patients should be asked to take part in medical research?

Suppose that you were asked to take part in a research study comparing two treatments, both of which were suitable for your illness.Would you be prepared to take part in a study comparing different treatments?

Usually, the only scientific way to compare one treatment with another is for the choice between the two to be made randomly, rather like tossing a coin.Would you be prepared to take part in a study where treatment was chosen at random?

If you answered “No” or “Do not know” to question 3, we would now like to ask you a bit more about this. In a randomized study a choice would be made between two treatments, either of which would be suitable for you. Your doctor and experts in the field do not know for sure if one treatment is better than the other, or if they are both the same, that’s why they want to do the study.Would knowing that encourage you to take part?

In a random choice study, if the treatment you were receiving did not suit you for any reason you could leave the study. Your doctor would then give you whatever other treatment might be appropriate for you.Would that encourage you to take part?

Before you agreed to enter a random choice study the doctor would tell you all about the two treatments being compared, before you were allocated to one or the other.Would that encourage you to take part?

If you knew all the following things were taken in account, would you change your mind and agree to take part in the study?Both treatments were completely suitable. You could leave the study if the treatment did not suit you. There is plenty of information before the random choice was made.