Interactive multimedia consent for biobanking: a randomized trial

Purpose: The potential of interactive multimedia to improve bio-bank informed consent has yet to be investigated. The aim of this study was to test the separate effectiveness of interactivity and multimedia at improving participant understanding and confidence in understanding of informed consent compared with a standard, -face-to-face (F2F) biobank consent process. Methods: A 2 (face-to-face versus multimedia) x 2 (standard versus enhanced interactivity) experimental design was used with 200 patients randomly assigned to receive informed consent. All patients received the same information provided in the biobank's nine-page consent document. Results: Interactivity (F(1,196) = 7.56, P = 0.007, partial eta(2) = 0.037) and media (F(1,196) = 4.27, P = 0.04, partial eta(2) = 0.021) independently improved participants' understanding of the biobank consent. Interactivity (F(1,196) = 6.793, P = 0.01, partial eta(2)= 0.033), but not media (F(1,196) = 0.455, not significant), resulted in increased participant confidence in their understanding of the biobank's consent materials. Patients took more time to complete the multimedia condition (mean = 18.2 min) than the face-to-face condition (mean = 12.6 min). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that interactivity and -multimedia each can be effective at promoting an individual's understanding and confidence in their understanding of a biobank consent, albeit with additional time investment. Researchers should not assume that multimedia is inherently interactive, but rather should separate the two constructs when studying electronic consent.