Advances in medicine – new treatments, cures, vaccines and medicines – are driven by research involving human. But when it comes to medical research that requires children to be involved, researchers often struggle to find participants.
The reason? Many parents are often unwilling to allow their children to take part in medical research, fearing that they may be harmed or use as “guinea pigs”, according to a report released recently by the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.
In fact, the report finds that only 30% of parents are willing to allow their children to participate in research involving a new medication. In contrast, 77% of parents want only FDA-approved medicines for their children. This finding reveals a large gap between the proportion of parents who want safe medicines for their children, are those who are willing to have their children take part in research that could ultimately produce information about medicines safety.
“We know that parents, quite reasonably, may be concerned about 
having their children participate in medical research.” says Dr. Matthew M. Davis, director of the US National Poll on Children’s Health. “Parents, however, may not realize how pediatric research has saved lives and helped lives. Research has led to the creation of vaccines, many of which have helped eradicate diseases like diphtheria, polio and small pox. That’s all thanks to vaccines that have been tested in clinical studies in which children have played a major role.”
having their children participate in medical research.” says Dr. Matthew M. Davis, director of the US National Poll on Children’s Health. “Parents, however, may not realize how pediatric research has saved lives and helped lives. Research has led to the creation of vaccines, many of which have helped eradicate diseases like diphtheria, polio and small pox. That’s all thanks to vaccines that have been tested in clinical studies in which children have played a major role.”Clinical trials during the past 30 years are also responsible for improved survival rates for many common childhood cancers, says Dr. Valerie Castle, chair of the Department of Pediatrics and the Ravitz Foundation Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at the U-M Health System.
“Parents, physicians and other advocates in the community must encourage a discourse on the importance of research on child health, and improved funding for pediatric research, to ensure more progress can be made in treating and preventing childhood diseases,” she says.
The US National Poll on Children’s Health finds :
- 77% of parents want only FDA-approved medicines for their children,
but only 30% say
they will allow their children to participate in research.
- Many parents are willing to consider children’s participate in research if the risk of harm is small.
- 92% of parents have never been asked to have their children participate in research.
The report, however,
they will allow their children to participate in research.
- Many parents are willing to consider children’s participate in research if the risk of harm is small.
- 92% of parents have never been asked to have their children participate in research.
The report, however,
does reveal some very promising results for researchers : 25% of parents
polled indicated that they would consider allowing their child to participate in research as a healthy volunteer and another 36% would consider it if their child had a particular disease being studied.
Most notably, the majority of parents say that the reason their child has never participated in a research study is simply because they’ve never been asked.
polled indicated that they would consider allowing their child to participate in research as a healthy volunteer and another 36% would consider it if their child had a particular disease being studied.
Most notably, the majority of parents say that the reason their child has never participated in a research study is simply because they’ve never been asked.
“There’s great potential to have even more children participate in research in the future, but we’re not yet reaching a lot of families who would be comfortable with having their children participate in research,” explains Davis, associate professor of general pediatrics and internal medicine at the U-M Medical School, and associate professor of public at the U-M Gerald R. Ford School of Public Health.
To capitalise on that potential, Davis says researchers need to involve a broader group of doctors in recruiting and advising children and their parents about research to increase participation. The National Poll on Children’s Health found parents are more willing to have their children participate in research when it is encouraged by their children’s doctor.
Beyond recruiting more participants, pediatric research faces another challenge : funding. While children make up 20% of the US population, only 5% of the funding from the US National Institutes of Health is allocated for research on pediatric diseases.
In an effort to increase government funding of children’s research, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital recently joined a coalition made up of the nation’s leading pediatric medical research institutions to support a new approach to the address the continued under-funding of federal support for pediatric research.
For its report, the National Poll on Children’s Health used data from a US online survey conducted in December 2007 and January 2008 in collaboration with Knowledge Networks Inc. The survey was administered to a random sample of 2,131 adults, ages 18 and older, who are a part of Knowledge Network’s online Knowledge Panel SM. The sample was subsequently weighted to reflect US population figures from the US Census Bureau. About three-fourths of the sample were households with children.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น