Providing research results to study participants: support versus practice of researchers presenting at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting

Offering to provide research results to study participants is gaining increasing support based, in part, on the principle of respect for persons. The frequency and means of this practice is unknown in national and international research communities. All investigators who presented oral abstracts involving human research at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting (December 2003) were surveyed. Responses were received from 197 (42%) of 472 eligible investigators. Nonrespondents did not differ in study type or country of origin. Only 30% (n = 48) of those who completed the survey had a formal plan for the return of research results; 40% of these would return both a summary plus individual level results. Of the respondents, 69% (n = 109) supported or strongly supported the practice; only 3% opposed the practice. The most commonly cited reasons for not returning results were: did not consider it (38%), anticipated contact difficulties (32%), and participant difficulty understanding results (26%). Only 11 (7%) indicated that their institutional review board (IRB) mandates the offer to provide results to all participants; this did not vary significantly by country. Given the high level of support in the international research community, evaluation of well-planned interventions for offering to provide research results to participants should be a priority.