Attitudes of Patients in Developing Countries Toward Participating in Clinical Trials: A Survey of Saudi Patients Attending Primary Health Care Services.

OBJECTIVES: Clinical trials are experimental projects that include patients as subjects. A number of benefits are directly associated with clinical trials. Healthcare processes and outcomes can be improved with the help of clinical trials. This study aimed to assess the attitudes and beliefs of patients about their contribution to and enrolment in clinical trials. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was used for data collection and analysis. A questionnaire was developed with six categories to derive effective outcomes. RESULTS: Of the 2000 participants approached to take part in the study, 1081 agreed. The majority of the study population was female, well educated, and unaware of clinical trials. Only 324 subjects (30.0%) had previously agreed to participate in a clinical trial. The majority (87.1%) were motivated to participate in clinical trials due to religious aspects. However, fear of any risk was the principal reason (79.8%) that reduced their motivation to participate. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study revealed that patients in Saudi Arabia have a low awareness and are less willing to participate in clinical trials. Different motivational factors and awareness programs can be used to increase patient participation in the future.

Antibodies against human platelet alloantigens and human leucocyte antigen class 1 in Saudi Arabian multiparous women and multi-transfused patients.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency of alloimmunization against human platelet antigens (HPAs) and human leucocyte antigen class 1 (HLA1) in multiparous women and multi-transfused patients.   METHODS: This prospective study was conducted between January and August 2013, on 50 multiparous women with no history of previous blood transfusion recruited from the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic, and 50 patients, who received multiple platelet transfusions, recruited from the Hematology/Oncology Ward, King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: The frequency of alloimmunization among multiparous pregnant women was 76%, as follows: 16% against HLA1 only, 8% against HPAs only, 52% against both HPAs and HLA1 antigens. In multi-transfused patients, the rate of alloimmunization was 42% as follows: 2% against HLA1 only, 22% against HPAs only, 18% against both HPAs and HLA1 antigens. The frequency of alloimmunization increases with the number of pregnancies, but not with the number of platelet transfusions. CONCLUSION: Alloimmunization against HPAs and HLA1 is very common among Saudi multiparous women and multi-transfused patients, which encourages the search for the extent of the possible complications in the fetus and newborn and in multitransfused patients and how to prevent their occurrence.