WHAT ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS UNDERLIE PATIENTS DECISIONS ABOUT PARTICIPATING IN CHEMOTHERAPY TRIALS

The theory of reasoned action, which postulates that personal attitude s and external social influences predict intentions to undertake a beh avior, was used as a conceptual framework for developing a questionnai re to elicit beliefs and attitudes associated with the decision to par ticipate in a hypothetical cancer chemotherapy trial. After completing the questionnaire, two-thirds of the 150 respondents indicated they w ould enroll in such a trial if it were available. Considerable variati on existed in both ''universal'' and ''trial-specific'' beliefs and at titudes underpinning their intentions. A substantial amount of the var iance in ''intention'' to participate was explained by ''attitude'' al one (75%). Social influences, although statistically significant, made a mere 1% additional contribution. One interpretation is that subject ive expected-utility theory, which essentially predicts beliefs or ''a ttitude,'' is a better model. The authors conclude that both theories may be criticized regarding how well they capture the rationality and nuances of decision behavior.