Understanding Attitudes and Roles of Oncology Advanced Practitioners in the Setting of Cancer Clinical Trials: A Pilot Study

PURPOSE: Oncology advanced practitioners (APs), including nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical nurse specialists, and pharmacists, are skilled health-care providers who contribute significantly to quality cancer care. However, little is known about how APs function within the clinical trials arena. With low rates of clinical trial enrollment among the adult oncology patient population, APs could play an important role in improving clinical trial enrollment. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted based on a 57-item survey of oncology APs' attitudes, beliefs, and roles in relation to cancer clinical trials. RESULTS: To assess validity and internal consistency of the survey, a pilot data collection was completed on 14 respondents from Hawaii. The survey's internal consistency across the subscales was moderate to very high, with Cronbach's alpha ranging between 0.55 and 0.86. The majority of oncology APs were interested in being more involved in the clinical trials process, and many are registered as investigators through the National Cancer Institute (NCI). However, few respondents reported being involved in recruitment, consenting, protocol development, or being actively involved with a research base. CONCLUSIONS: This survey was found to be a valid tool to measure APs' attitudes and roles in regards to clinical trials. This survey is just the beginning of data collection in regards to clinical trials among this group of health-care professionals. RECOMMENDATIONS: To gain further insight into oncology APs and their roles in clinical trials, it is recommended that this survey be implemented on a national level as a first step in moving this issue forward.