Exploring the Prevalence and Factors Influencing Clinical Trial Awareness in US Adults with Self-Reported Depression and Anxiety

Ibilola A Sanusi; Abimbola E Arisoyin; Shaw Aruoture; Ibrahim L Folorunsho; Obiamaka P Okereke; Damilola A Adeyemo; Mujeeb A Salawu; Okelue E Okobi; Akash Gupta; Henrietta S Akunne; Radhey Patel; Omotola Emmanuel; Nneka C Ezeudemba

doi:10.7759/cureus.40780

Exploring the Prevalence and Factors Influencing Clinical Trial Awareness in US Adults with Self-Reported Depression and Anxiety

Cureus. 2023 Jun 22;15(6):e40780. doi: 10.7759/cureus.40780. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Internal Medicine, University of Texas at Houston, Houston, USA.
² Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, NGA.
³ Psychiatry, Behavioral Hospital Of Bellaire, Houston, USA.
⁴ Emergency Department, Bader Al Janoub General Hospital, Najran, SAU.
⁵ Family Medicine, Ebonyi Sate University, Ebonyi, NGA.
⁶ Research, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, USA.
⁷ Medicine and Surgery, University of Ilorin College of Health Sciences, Ilorin, NGA.
⁸ Internal Medicine and Psychiatry, Houston Health Department, Houston, USA.
⁹ Family Medicine, Medficient Health Systems, Laurel, USA.
¹⁰ Family Medicine, Lakeside Medical Center, Belle Glade, USA.
¹¹ Internal Medicine, Spartan Health Sciences University, Vieux Fort, LCA.
¹² Psychiatry, Delta State University, Abraka, NGA.
¹³ Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Avalon University School of Medicine, Willemstad, CUW.
¹⁴ Health Information Management, Emory Healthcare, Georgia, USA.
¹⁵ Infectious Disease, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, POL.

Abstract

Objective: Lack of clinical trial awareness is a crucial barrier to clinical trial enrollment. The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence and factors associated with clinical trial awareness among US adults with self-reported depression and anxiety.

Methods: Data were collected from 896 adults who self-reported depression and anxiety from the 2020 Health Information National Trends Survey. Multinomial logistic regression was utilized to assess predictors of clinical trial awareness, particularly socio-demographic, health-related, and technological variables. Odds ratios (OR) for the associations were reported.

Results: About 60.4% of adults with self-reported depression or anxiety reported being aware of clinical trials. In the multivariable regression, education level, health-related social media use, and having access to a regular provider were all significantly associated with greater odds of clinical trial awareness among individuals with depression and/or anxiety. Specifically, individuals with at least some college education (OR 2.07, 95% confidence interval (CI); 1.28-3.34; p = 0.004) were more likely to report awareness of clinical trials than those with less than a college education. Similarly, compared to those without access to health providers, individuals with depression and/or anxiety who had a regular provider had greater odds of clinical trial awareness (OR 2.23, 95% CI; 1.16-4.31; p = 0.017). Additionally, those who reported two or more health-related uses of social media were significantly more likely to report clinical trial awareness than their counterparts who reported no health-related social media use (OR 3.17, 95% CI; 1.48-6.80; p = 0.004).

Conclusion: Our study shows that about six in 10 adults with depression and anxiety in the United States were aware of clinical trials. However, some sub-groups of patients, particularly those without access to a regular health provider, those with a lower education level, and those with limited use of social media for health purposes, remain inadequately informed and may lack awareness of available clinical trials. These findings are crucial and identify subgroups of people with mental disorders that may benefit from targeted interventions to improve clinical trial awareness.

Keywords: anxiety; clinical trial awareness; clinical trial engagement; depression; mental health; united states.