French Public Familiarity and Attitudes toward Clinical Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic put clinical research in the media spotlight globally. This article proposes a first measure of familiarity with and attitude toward clinical research in France. Drawing from the “Health Literacy Survey 2019” (HLS19) conducted online between 27 May and 5 June 2020 on a sample o...
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doaj-8e49acae98304df38e9c3adac1e203752021-03-06T00:05:30ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1661-78271660-46012021-03-01182611261110.3390/ijerph18052611French Public Familiarity and Attitudes toward Clinical Research during the COVID-19 PandemicÉmilien Schultz0Jeremy K. Ward1Laëtitia Atlani-Duault2Seth M. Holmes3Julien Mancini4CEPED (UMR 196), Université de Paris, IRD, 75006 Paris, FranceCERMES3, INSERM, CNRS, EHESS, Université de Paris, 94801 Villejuif, FranceCEPED (UMR 196), Université de Paris, IRD, 75006 Paris, FranceSESSTIM, Sciences Economiques & Sociales de la Santé & Traitement de l’Information Médicale, CANBIOS Team (Équipe Labellisée LIGUE 2019), Aix-Marseille University, INSERM, IRD, 13009 Marseille, FranceSESSTIM, Sciences Economiques & Sociales de la Santé & Traitement de l’Information Médicale, CANBIOS Team (Équipe Labellisée LIGUE 2019), Aix-Marseille University, INSERM, IRD, 13009 Marseille, FranceThe COVID-19 pandemic put clinical research in the media spotlight globally. This article proposes a first measure of familiarity with and attitude toward clinical research in France. Drawing from the “Health Literacy Survey 2019” (HLS19) conducted online between 27 May and 5 June 2020 on a sample of the French adult population (N = 1003), we show that a significant proportion of the French population claimed some familiarity with clinical trials (64.8%) and had positive attitudes (72%) toward them. One of the important findings of this study is that positive attitudes toward clinical research exist side by side with a strong distancing from the pharmaceutical industry. While respondents acknowledged that the pharmaceutical industry plays an important role in clinical research (68.3%), only one-quarter indicated that they trust the industry (25.7%). Positive attitudes toward clinical trials were associated with familiarity with clinical trials (Odds Ratio, OR 2.97 [1.90–4.63]), financial difficulties (OR 0.63 [0.46–0.85]), as well as mistrust of doctors (0.48 [0.27–0.85]) and of scientists (OR 0.62 [0.38–0.99]). Although the French media provided a great deal of information on how clinical research works during the first months of the pandemic, there remains profound mistrust of the pharmaceutical industry in France. This suspicion can undermine crisis management, especially in the areas of vaccine development and preparation for future pandemics.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2611clinical researchpublic attitudessurveyCOVID-19pharmaceutical industrymedia coverage |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Émilien Schultz Jeremy K. Ward Laëtitia Atlani-Duault Seth M. Holmes Julien Mancini |
spellingShingle |
Émilien Schultz Jeremy K. Ward Laëtitia Atlani-Duault Seth M. Holmes Julien Mancini French Public Familiarity and Attitudes toward Clinical Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health clinical research public attitudes survey COVID-19 pharmaceutical industry media coverage |
author_facet |
Émilien Schultz Jeremy K. Ward Laëtitia Atlani-Duault Seth M. Holmes Julien Mancini |
author_sort |
Émilien Schultz |
title |
French Public Familiarity and Attitudes toward Clinical Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_short |
French Public Familiarity and Attitudes toward Clinical Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_full |
French Public Familiarity and Attitudes toward Clinical Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_fullStr |
French Public Familiarity and Attitudes toward Clinical Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_full_unstemmed |
French Public Familiarity and Attitudes toward Clinical Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_sort |
french public familiarity and attitudes toward clinical research during the covid-19 pandemic |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1661-7827 1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2021-03-01 |
description |
The COVID-19 pandemic put clinical research in the media spotlight globally. This article proposes a first measure of familiarity with and attitude toward clinical research in France. Drawing from the “Health Literacy Survey 2019” (HLS19) conducted online between 27 May and 5 June 2020 on a sample of the French adult population (N = 1003), we show that a significant proportion of the French population claimed some familiarity with clinical trials (64.8%) and had positive attitudes (72%) toward them. One of the important findings of this study is that positive attitudes toward clinical research exist side by side with a strong distancing from the pharmaceutical industry. While respondents acknowledged that the pharmaceutical industry plays an important role in clinical research (68.3%), only one-quarter indicated that they trust the industry (25.7%). Positive attitudes toward clinical trials were associated with familiarity with clinical trials (Odds Ratio, OR 2.97 [1.90–4.63]), financial difficulties (OR 0.63 [0.46–0.85]), as well as mistrust of doctors (0.48 [0.27–0.85]) and of scientists (OR 0.62 [0.38–0.99]). Although the French media provided a great deal of information on how clinical research works during the first months of the pandemic, there remains profound mistrust of the pharmaceutical industry in France. This suspicion can undermine crisis management, especially in the areas of vaccine development and preparation for future pandemics. |
topic |
clinical research public attitudes survey COVID-19 pharmaceutical industry media coverage |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2611 |
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