A study identifying factors that affect the attitudes of clinicians toward new technology: Electronic data capturing systems in clinical trials.

摘要

Pharmaceutical industry sponsors are increasingly using electronic data capturing systems in their clinical trials instead of using paper-based data capturing systems. The purpose of this study project was to research the attitudes of clinicians and identify factors that may affect their attitudes toward electronic data capturing systems.; This research study incorporated quantitative and qualitative components. One hundred and ninety-one clinicians that worked in the United States and had used an electronic data capturing system in a clinical trial, completed a modified version of the Computer Attitude Scale (CAS) survey developed by Loyd and Gressard (1984) and were asked about their demographics and socio-economic background. The quantitative data was analyzed using a series of one-way analysis of variance tests. All clinicians that completed this survey were invited to complete a 20-item questionnaire, containing open-ended questions. This qualitative data was analyzed using the constant comparison method and was then interpreted into recommendations for the pharmaceutical industry.; The majority of clinicians that participated in this research study had positive attitudes toward electronic data capturing systems. Most clinicians were less anxious, had confidence in their ability to operate the systems, and found the current electronic data capturing systems useful. A significant relationship was discovered between clinicians preferring electronic data capturing systems and job classification and the clinician's educational level and between the clinician's experience using electronic data capturing systems and the system's usefulness. Sixty-five percent of the respondents would prefer to use electronic data capturing systems versus using a paper-based system. Clinicians want systems to become standardized and simple. Training that is conducted in small groups prior to study start-up is the most effective.