Why do patients participate in research involving skin biopsies? Vs1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Why do patients agree to participate in research involving skin biopsies? A qualitative study exploring patient’s experiences of having a skin biopsy for research
IRAS ID
147761
Contact name
Annette Boaz
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
St George's, University of London.
Research summary
This research study aims to explore the reasons why people with Eczema and Psoriasis agree to participate in research involving a skin biopsy that provides no clinical benefit to them.
There is currently a lack of research in this area and the majority of the literature is focused on examining why people enter clinical trials of a investigational medicinal product. Identifying and exploring patients’ motivations for participating in studies that involve an invasive procedure such as a skin biopsy could lead to improvements in research design and increase recruitment to future studies.
Participants will be recruited from one Dermatology clinic that regularly runs research studies that involve skin biopsies undertaken for research purposes only. Adult patients with Eczema or Psoriasis who have either previously had a skin biopsy for research or have declined to participate in research involving a skin biopsy, will be approached to take part in this study.
Willing participants will be asked to complete one brief questionnaire and take part in one semi-structured interview regarding their motivations for participating in, or declining, the skin biopsy research and if applicable, their experiences of participating in the research. Willing participants will be given the option of participating in a face to face interview or an interview over the telephone. Face to face interviews will be conducted in a private room on the hospital site. All interviews will be audio-taped and then transcribed in full.
Once participants have taken part in the interview and completed the questionnaire their participation in the research study will be over.
The researcher will transcribe all the interviews word for word before systematically analysing the interview transcripts for arising themes. These themes will be explored in relation to the study’s objectives.REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/0541
Date of REC Opinion
24 Mar 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion