The relationship between trust in federal oversight of vaccine safety and willingness to participate in COVID-19 clinical trials: a repeated measures study of Philadelphia residents (September 2021 - March 2023).

BACKGROUND

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic precipitated an urgent need for clinical trials to discover safe and efficacious treatments. We examined how COVID-19 experiences, clinical trial awareness, and trust in the vaccine safety process were associated with willingness to participate in COVID-19 clinical trials. The objective was to investigate the relationship between trust in federal oversight of vaccine safety and willingness to participate in clinical trials for COVID-19 treatment across four distinct time points over an 18-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

We used four waves of data collected from September 2021 to March 2023 among 582 Philadelphia residents (with a missing data rate of 0.9%). Generalized estimating equations estimated the association between willingness to participate in COVID-19 clinical trials and participants' trust in the federal government's oversight of COVID-19 vaccine safety, COVID-19-related variables (COVID-19 related health challenges, history of COVID-19 infection), awareness of clinical trials and how to enroll in them, and sociodemographic characteristics (age, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, parental status, education, and insurance).

RESULTS

On average, willingness to participate in a COVID-19 clinical trial was positively associated with greater trust in the federal government's oversight of vaccine safety [β = 0.34, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.15-0.53], having COVID-19 (β = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.08-0.73), awareness of clinical trials (β = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.04-0.73), and knowledge of how to enroll (β = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.44-1.23). Among sociodemographic characteristics, race/ethnicity (p = 0.001) and gender (p = 0.018) were identified as predictors for COVID-19 trial willingness.

CONCLUSION

Willingness to participate in clinical trials may be bolstered by strengthening the public's trust in the federal government's role within vaccine safety oversight, increasing the perceived relevance of clinical trials to individuals' health and well-being, and offering tailored information to educate diverse communities about ongoing trials and how to enroll in them.