Perceptions and attitudes toward clinical trial participation: a study on

Introduction: Participation of patients in well-designed clinical trials forms the essence of all clinical research. PLHIV and receiving ART at AKTH, Kano State, Nigeria, were invited to participate in a six-month Methods: A questionnaire interview was conducted on those who participated and those who declined. Data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: All the reasons for participation in clinical trials were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Reasons such as "To help myself" and "To improve my health" both have a perfect mean score of 1.0000 and a standard deviation of 0.0000, indicating reasons as the most important for participation. "To help others" (mean = 1.9379) and "Asked by the doctor" (mean = 2.4237) were moderately endorsed. "For the money" (mean = 3.0000) was the least supported among tangible reasons. Most participants understood the consent form, agreed they gained something from participating, felt respected and treated with dignity, trusted that their information would remain private, and believed the research would benefit others. Participation was largely seen as a free and meaningful choice. The most significant reasons cited for the lack of participation were time constraints (p = 0.029) and lack of money to come to the hospital for the study (p = 0.049). Discussion: Clinical trials can be conducted more quickly and effectively with greater patient participation. Improving awareness will improve patient participation and retention in clinical trials, which will invariably increase access to the newest available treatments.