Improving Participant Understanding of Informed Consent in an HIV-Prevention Clinical Trial: A Comparison of Methods

• Published in: AIDS and behavior Vol. 16; no. 2; pp. 412 - 421
• Main Authors: Corneli, Amy L., Sorenson, James R., Bentley, Margaret E., Henderson, Gail E., Michael Bowling, J., Nkhoma, Jacqueline, Moses, Agnes, Zulu, Cynthia, Chilima, James, Ahmed, Yusuf, Heilig, Charles M., Jamieson, Denise J., van der Horst, Charles
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.02.2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anti-HIV Agents - administration & dosage; Breast Feeding - methods; Clinical trials; Comprehension; Concepts; Counseling; Disease prevention; Female; Females; Follow-Up Studies; Health Psychology; HIV; HIV Seropositivity - epidemiology; HIV Seropositivity - transmission; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical - prevention & control; Infectious Diseases; Informed Consent; Informed Consent - ethics; Malawi; Malawi - epidemiology; Medical Research; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Paper; Patient Education as Topic - methods; Patient Satisfaction; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - chemically induced; Public Health; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teaching Materials; Young Adult; Malawi; Lilongwe Malawi; Evaluation; Informed consent; Comprehension; Africa
• ISSN: 1090-7165; 1573-3254
• DOI: 10.1007/s10461-011-9977-z

Empirical research on informed consent has shown that study participants often do not fully understand consent information. This study assessed participant understanding of three mock consent approaches describing an HIV-prevention clinical trial in Lilongwe, Malawi prior to trial implementation. Pregnant women ( n  = 297) were systematically selected from antenatal-care waiting lines and sequentially allocated to receive an enhanced standard consent form (group 1), a context-specific consent form (group 2), or context-specific counseling cards (group 3). Understanding of research concepts and study procedures was assessed immediately postintervention and at 1-week follow-up. At postintervention, participants in groups 2 and 3 understood more about research concepts and study procedures compared with group 1. Group 3 participants also understood more about study procedures compared with group 2. At follow-up, participants in groups 2 and 3 continued to understand more about research concepts and study procedures. Context-specific approaches improved understanding of consent information in this study.