Acceptability and perceived barriers and facilitators to creating a national research register to enable ’direct to patient’ enrolment into research: the Scottish Health Research Register (SHARE)

Grant, Aileen; Ure, Jenny; Nicolson, Donald J; Hanley, Janet; Sheikh, Aziz; McKinstry, Brian; Sullivan, Frank

Abstract

Background
Difficulties with recruitment pose a major, increasingly recognised challenge to the viability of research. We sought to explore whether a register of volunteers interested in research participation, with data linkage to electronic health records to identify suitable research participants, would prove acceptable to healthcare staff, patients and researchers.

Methods
We undertook a qualitative study in which a maximum variation sampling approach was adopted. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with patients, general practitioners (GP), practice managers and health service researchers in two Scottish health boards. Analysis was primarily thematic to identify a range of issues and concerns for all stakeholder groups.

Results
The concept of a national research register was, in general, acceptable to all stakeholder groups and was widely regarded as beneficial for research and for society. Patients, however, highlighted a number of conditions which should be met in the design of a register to expedite confidence and facilitate recruitment. They also gave their perceptions on how a register should operate and be promoted, favouring a range of media. GPs and practice managers were primarily concerned with the security and confidentiality of patient data and the impact a register may have on their workload. Researchers were supportive of the initiative seeing advantages in more rapid access to a wider pool of patients. They did raise concerns that GPs may be able to block access to personal patient data held in general practice clinical systems and that the register may not be representative of the whole population.

Conclusions
This work suggests that patients, healthcare staff and researchers have a favourable view of the potential benefits of a national register to identify people who are potentially eligible and willing to participate in health related research. It has highlighted a number of issues for the developers to incorporate in the design of research registers.

Citation

Grant, A., Ure, J., Nicolson, D. J., Hanley, J., Sheikh, A., McKinstry, B., & Sullivan, F. (2013). Acceptability and perceived barriers and facilitators to creating a national research register to enable ’direct to patient’ enrolment into research: the Scottish Health Research Register (SHARE). BMC Health Services Research, 13(1), https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-13-422

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 27, 2013
• Online Publication Date: Oct 18, 2013
• Publication Date: 2013-12
• Deposit Date: Aug 5, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 10, 2020
• Journal: BMC Health Services Research
• Electronic ISSN: 1472-6963
• Publisher: BMC
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 1
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-13-422
• Keywords: Research register, Recruitment, Randomised controlled trial, Qualitative,
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/328866