Results of an intervention study to improve communication about randomisedclinical trials of cancer therapy

We report results from an intervention study to improve communication durin g consultations about randomised clinical trials of cancer therapy. Patient s, eligible for a trial, completed questionnaires about information prefere nces and attitudes to trials prior to seeing their doctors, who were either shown these questionnaires (intervention) or not (control). Fifteen doctor s participated and invited 265 patients to join one of 40 different randomi sed clinical trials. Most patients (77.4%) agreed to trial entry and this w as predicted by the Patient's Attitudes to Trials questionnaire with an 80. 4% accuracy. Accrual. length of consultation, doctor and patient satisfacti on were not associated with the intervention. Further research to explore t he potential use of written interventions to facilitate communication and a ccrual to randomised clinical trials is recommended. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.