Sex and cardiovascular disease status differences in attitudes and willingness to participate in clinical research studies/clinical trials

BACKGROUND: While women are under-represented in research on cardiovascular disease (CVD), little is known about the attitudes of men and women with CVD regarding participation in clinical research studies/clinical trials. METHODS: Patients with CVD (and/or risk factors) and patients with other chronic conditions from Iowa were recruited from a commercial panel. An on-line survey assessed willingness to participate (WTP) and other attitudes towards aspects of clinical research studies. RESULTS: Based on 504 respondents, there were no differences in WTP in patients with CVD compared to patients with other chronic diseases. Across all respondents, men had 14% lower WTP (relative risk (RR) for men, 0.86, 95% CI, 0.72–1.02). Among patients with CVD, there was no significant difference in WTP between women (RR for women = 1) and men (RR for men, 0.96, 95% CI, 0.82–1.14). There were no significant differences based on sex or CVD status for attitudes on randomization, blinding, side effects, conflict of interest, experimental treatments or willingness to talk to one’s physician. Women had more favorable attitudes about participants being treated like “guinea pigs” (RR for men, 0.84, 95% CI, 0.73–0.98) and clinical trials being associated with terminally ill patients (RR for men, 0.93, 95% CI, 0.86–1.00). CONCLUSIONS: The findings reported here suggest that the observed lower levels of participation by women are due to factors other than a lower WTP or to women having more negative attitudes towards aspects of study participation. Patients with CVD have similar attitudes and WTP as patients with other chronic conditions. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-018-2667-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.