The rights of psychiatric patients in China: A survey of medical staff and consumers' attitudes toward patient participation in clinical trials

To explore and compare attitudes of consumers (patients and their family members) and medical staff toward clinical trials related to mental health in China, we developed two questionnaires for medical staff and patients and their family members. Approximately 66.2% of medical staff who had no research experience believed that patients could be persuaded to participate in clinical trials, but the percentage of consumers who believed so was just 12.5%. Both groups agreed that written informed consent was required; however, more medical staff than patients agreed that such consent could be provided by patients or their guardian (88.4% vs. 71.4%). Only 9.5% of medical staff thought that patient treatment would be compromised by refusal to participate; the proportion of consumers who thought the same was 29.4%. Great differences exist between medical staff and consumers' attitudes and beliefs regarding clinical trials. Medical staff were more likely to have a favorable attitude toward their patients participating in clinical trials and considered that informed consent could be provided by guardians rather than the patient.