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Distinctive aspects of consent in pilot and feasibility studies

Sim, Julius

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Abstract

Prior to a main randomized clinical trial, investigators often carry out a pilot or feasibility study in order to test certain trial processes or estimate key statistical parameters, so as to optimize the design of the main trial and/or determine whether it can feasibly be run. Pilot studies reflect the design of the intended main trial, whereas feasibility studies may not do so, and may not involve allocation to different treatments. Testing relative clinical effectiveness is not considered an appropriate aim of pilot or feasibility studies. However, consent is no less important than in a main trial as a means of morally legitimizing the investigator's actions. Two misperceptions are central to consent in clinical studies-therapeutic misconception (a tendency to conflate research and therapy) and therapeutic misestimation (a tendency to overestimate possible benefits and/or underestimate possible harms associated with participation). These phenomena may take a distinctive form in pilot and feasibility studies, owing to potential participants' likely prior unfamiliarity with the nature and purposes of such studies. Thus, participants may confuse the aims of a pilot or feasibility study (developing or optimizing trial design and processes) with those of a main trial (testing treatment effectiveness) and base consent on this misconstrual. Similarly, a misunderstanding of the ability of pilot and feasibility studies to provide information that will inform clinical care, or the underdeveloped nature of interventions included in such studies, may lead to inaccurate assessments of the objective possibility of benefit, and weaken the epistemic basis of consent accordingly. Equipoise may also be particularly challenging to grasp in the context of a pilot study. The consent process in pilot and feasibility studies requires a particular focus, and careful communication, if it is to carry the appropriate moral weight. There are corresponding implications for the process of ethical approval.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 24, 2021
Online Publication Date Mar 18, 2021
Publication Date 2021-06
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice
Print ISSN 1356-1294
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 27
Issue 3
Pages 657-664
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.13556
Keywords clinical trial, consent, feasibility studies, pilot study
Publisher URL http://doi.org/10.1111/jep.13556

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