Sharing research results with patients: The views of care-givers involved in a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Doctors and midwives in a large maternity hospital who were involved in a randomized controlled trial (to compare methods of monitoring the foetal heart during labour) were asked whether the trial results should be passed on to women coming to the hospital for their care. About a third of those interviewed thought that women should be told about the trial results. They varied in their reasons and in how they would go about doing it. Some of those who felt that trial results should not be passed on to women coming to the hospital found the results difficult to understand themselves. Others took the view that making decisions about care was a professional responsibility which should not routinely be shared with patients.