Abstract:
The reported research was an investigation of attitudes and beliefs
associated with participation in screening programmes and clinical
trials, carried out by general practitioners. Particular focus was given
to cardiovascular risk-reduction.
The work comprised two main studies. The preliminary study was entirely
exploratory, designed to guage public attitudes towards GP involvement
with preventive screening programmes and clinical research; and to
identify the range of variables associated with participation in such
projects. The subsequent study utilised a more formal approach in which
the Behavioural Intention Model was utilised to evaluate the power of
influencing factors.
Both studies employed self-completion questionnaires, developed from
preliminary in-depth interview data. For the first study instrument
distribution was effected by personal approach, for the second study
postal distribution was employed.
In all, 1,037 respondents contributed to the surveys - 442 to the
preliminary exploration and 695 to the follow-on study. These
represented response rates of approximately 65% and 36% respectively.
The main findings were that attitudes towards screening were generally
favourable, though there was less conformity in attitudes expressed
towards clinical trials. These findings were reflected in reported
participatory intentions.
No evidence was found of any factors which might pose widespread
barr i ers to screen ing part ic i pa t ion, though some potent ia 1 deterren ts
were identified for older women. It was also noted that other potential
deterrents may have been masked by the 'middle class' bias of the
sample.
Major deterrents to trial entry were identified as worries about: sideeffects,
acquired resistance, discontinuation of current effective
medications and lack of adequate information. These all interacted with
the 'guinea pig' factor.
Response rates and responses associated with medical and non-medical
sampling sources were also discussed; and consideration was made of the
general utility of the Behavioural Intention Model for research of this
kind.
