scholarly journals Digital tools in the Informed Consent process: a systematic review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gesualdo Francesco ◽  
Margherita Daverio ◽  
Laura Palazzani ◽  
Dimitris Dimitriou ◽  
Javier Diez Domingo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Providing understandable information to patients is necessary to achieve the aims of the Informed Consent process: respecting and promoting patients’ autonomy and protecting patients from harm. In recent decades, new, primarily digital, technologies have been used to apply and test innovative formats of Informed Consent. We conducted a systematic review to explore the impact of using digital tools for Informed Consent in both clinical research and in clinical practice.. Understanding, satisfaction and participation were compared for digital tools versus the non-digital Informed Consent process.Methods: We searched for studies on available electronic databases, including Pubmed, EMBASE, and Cochrane. Studies were identified using specific Mesh-terms/keywords. We included studies, published from January 2012 to October 2020, that focused on the use of digital Informed Consent tools for clinical research, or clinical procedures. Digital interventions were defined as interventions that used multimedia or audio-video to provide information to patients. We classified the interventions into 3 different categories: video only, non-interactive multimedia, and interactive multimedia.Results: Our search yielded 19,579 publications. After title and abstract screening 100 studies were retained for full-text analysis, of which 73 publications were included. Studies examined interactive multimedia (29/73), non-interactive multimedia (13/73), and videos (31/73), and most (34/38) studies were conducted on adults. Innovations in consent were tested for clinical/surgical procedures (26/38) and clinical research (12/38). For research IC, 21 outcomes were explored, with a positive effect on at least one of the studied outcomes being observed in 8/12 studies. For clinical/surgical procedures 49 outcomes were explored, and 21/26 studies reported a positive effect on at least one of the studied outcomes. Conclusions: Digital technologies for informed consent were not found to negatively affect any of the outcomes, and overall, multimedia tools seem desirable. Multimedia tools indicated a higher impact than videos only. Presence of a researcher may potentially enhance efficacy of different outcomes in research IC processes. Studies were heterogeneous in design, making evaluation of impact challenging. Robust study design including standardization is needed to conclusively assess impact. Trial registration: NA

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Gesualdo ◽  
Margherita Daverio ◽  
Laura Palazzani ◽  
Dimitris Dimitriou ◽  
Javier Diez-Domingo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Providing understandable information to patients is necessary to achieve the aims of the Informed Consent process: respecting and promoting patients’ autonomy and protecting patients from harm. In recent decades, new, primarily digital technologies have been used to apply and test innovative formats of Informed Consent. We conducted a systematic review to explore the impact of using digital tools for Informed Consent in both clinical research and in clinical practice. Understanding, satisfaction and participation were compared for digital tools versus the non-digital Informed Consent process. Methods We searched for studies on available electronic databases, including Pubmed, EMBASE, and Cochrane. Studies were identified using specific Mesh-terms/keywords. We included studies, published from January 2012 to October 2020, that focused on the use of digital Informed Consent tools for clinical research, or clinical procedures. Digital interventions were defined as interventions that used multimedia or audio–video to provide information to patients. We classified the interventions into 3 different categories: video only, non-interactive multimedia, and interactive multimedia. Results Our search yielded 19,579 publications. After title and abstract screening 100 studies were retained for full-text analysis, of which 73 publications were included. Studies examined interactive multimedia (29/73), non-interactive multimedia (13/73), and videos (31/73), and most (34/38) studies were conducted on adults. Innovations in consent were tested for clinical/surgical procedures (26/38) and clinical research (12/38). For research IC, 21 outcomes were explored, with a positive effect on at least one of the studied outcomes being observed in 8/12 studies. For clinical/surgical procedures 49 outcomes were explored, and 21/26 studies reported a positive effect on at least one of the studied outcomes. Conclusions Digital technologies for informed consent were not found to negatively affect any of the outcomes, and overall, multimedia tools seem desirable. Multimedia tools indicated a higher impact than videos only. Presence of a researcher may potentially enhance efficacy of different outcomes in research IC processes. Studies were heterogeneous in design, making evaluation of impact challenging. Robust study design including standardization is needed to conclusively assess impact.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gesualdo Francesco ◽  
Laura Palazzani ◽  
Dimitris Dimitriou ◽  
Javier Diez Domingo ◽  
Jaime Fons-Martinez ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Providing understandable information to patients is necessary to achieve the two main aims of the Informed Consent process: respecting and promoting patients’ autonomy and protecting patients from harm. In recent decades, new, primarily digital, technologies have been used to apply and test innovative formats of Informed Consent. We conducted a systematic review to explore the impact of using digital tools for Informed Consent in both clinical care and clinical trials. Understanding, comprehension, satisfaction and participation were compared for digital tools versus the traditional Informed Consent process. Methods: We searched for studies on available electronic databases, including Pubmed, ISI web of science (WoS), and Cochrane. Studies were identified using specific Mesh-terms/keywords. We included studies, published from January 2012 to April 2018, that focused on the use of digital Informed Consent tools for surgery, diagnostic procedures, therapeutic interventions, and clinical research. Digital interventions were defined as interventions that used multimedia or audio-video to provide information to patients. We classified the interventions into 3 different categories: video only, non-interactive multimedia, and interactive multimedia. Results: Our search yielded 1046 publications. After title and abstract screening 182 studies were retained for full-text analysis, of which 38 publications were included. Studies examined interactive multimedia (17/38), non-interactive multimedia (11/38), and videos (10/38), and most (34/38) studies were conducted on adults. Innovations in consent were tested for clinical/surgical procedures (26/38) and RCTs (12/38). For RCTs, 21 outcomes were explored, with a positive effect on at least one of the studied outcomes being observed in 8/12 studies. For clinical/surgical procedures 49 outcomes were explored, and 21/26 studies reported a positive effect on at least one of the studied outcomes. Conclusions: Digital technologies for informed consent were not found to affect negatively any of the outcomes, and overall, interactive multimedia tools seem desirable. Interactive multimedia tools indicated a higher impact than passive videos. Presence of a researcher may potentially enhance efficacy of different outcomes. Studies were heterogeneous in design, making evaluation of impact challenging. Robust study design including standardisation is needed to conclusively assess impact.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gesualdo Francesco ◽  
Laura Palazzani ◽  
Dimitris Dimitriou ◽  
Javier Diez Domingo ◽  
Jaime Fons-Martinez ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Providing understandable information to patients is necessary to achieve the two main aims of the Informed Consent process: respecting and promoting patients’ autonomy and protecting patients from harm. In recent decades, new, primarily digital, technologies have been used to apply and test innovative formats of Informed Consent. We conducted a systematic review to explore the impact of using digital tools for Informed Consent in both clinical care and clinical trials. Understanding, comprehension, satisfaction and participation were compared for digital tools versus the traditional Informed Consent process. Methods: We searched for studies on available electronic databases, including Pubmed, ISI web of science (WoS), and Cochrane. Studies were identified using specific Mesh-terms/keywords. We included studies, published from January 2012 to April 2018, that focused on the use of digital Informed Consent tools for surgery, diagnostic procedures, therapeutic interventions, and clinical research. Digital interventions were defined as interventions that used multimedia or audio-video to provide information to patients. We classified the interventions into 3 different categories: video only, non-interactive multimedia, and interactive multimedia. Results: Our search yielded 1046 publications. After title and abstract screening 182 studies were retained for full-text analysis, of which 38 publications were included. Studies examined interactive multimedia (17/38), non-interactive multimedia (11/38), and videos (10/38), and most (34/38) studies were conducted on adults. Innovations in consent were tested for clinical/surgical procedures (26/38) and RCTs (12/38). For RCTs, 21 outcomes were explored, with a positive effect on at least one of the studied outcomes being observed in 8/12 studies. For clinical/surgical procedures 49 outcomes were explored, and 21/26 studies reported a positive effect on at least one of the studied outcomes. Conclusions: Digital technologies for informed consent were not found to affect negatively any of the outcomes, and overall, interactive multimedia tools seem desirable. Interactive multimedia tools indicated a higher impact than passive videos. Presence of a researcher may potentially enhance efficacy of different outcomes. Studies were heterogeneous in design, making evaluation of impact challenging. Robust study design including standardisation is needed to conclusively assess impact.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Roy Chaudhury ◽  
D. Mehta

There has been a drop in clinical research in India following stringent conditions put in place by the Indian Supreme Court in 2013. The Court's orders came in the wake of irregularities highlighted in the conduct of clinical trials in the country. This paper highlights the steps taken by the Indian regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation to comply with these directions. These are of three kinds: strengthening regulatory institutions, protecting participant safety and creating regulatory certainty for sponsors and investigators. Examples include the large-scale training of Ethics Committees, framing detailed guidelines on compensation and audiovisual recording of the informed consent process, as well as reducing the time taken to process applications. It is expected that these measures will inspire confidence for the much-needed resumption of clinical research.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saif Khairat ◽  
Paige Ottmar ◽  
Christina Smith ◽  
Betsy Sleath ◽  
Brandon Welch ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Informed consent is among the biggest challenges in recruiting participants for clinical research studies. Researchers face many challenges in conducting clinical trials, some of which include budgetary restrictions, lack of trained personnel, and difficulty recruiting study participants--particularly minorities and participants from rural communities. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to utilize telemedicine to improve the informed consent process for the clinical trials and studies. METHODS This study will be conducted separately yet concurrently at two institutions, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), in order to compare results both within and across institutions. RESULTS Enrollment for Phase 1 began in March of 2018 and concluded in May 2018. Data transcription and analysis will be conducted through June and September of 2018. CONCLUSIONS In this paper, we present a novel approach to conducting the informed consent using a new telemedicine modality namely, teleconsent. Teleconsent presents the ability to conduct a live interaction among clinical research coordinators and potential participants while synchronously presenting the consent form on the screen and obtaining participant’s signature through doxy.me, the teleconsent system. The aim of this research is to assess the feasibility and efficacy of the teleconsent intervention among residents in urban and rural settings. Teleconsent provides potential to improve obtaining informed consent from potential clinical trial participants.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document