Study Visits and Your Health Information

People we spoke with participated in trials that lasted anywhere from a few months to ten years. Trials included appointments with the study team, tests, monitoring activities, and sharing personal health information.

Study Visits

People had both positive and negative experiences during clinical trial appointments. Fred appreciated that when he arrived, someone would “come and take [him] down to where he needed to go.” Lainey said the hospital where she went for her trial had “too many patients” and she often had to wait a long time.

 

Jennifer A. talks about having a “regular check in.”

Jennifer A. talks about having a “regular check in.”

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Yes, since you’ve participated in so many different trials, what do you think makes a good—not a good trial but a good experience for the participant?


I definitely like the ones that have that regular check-in, and I do think having a structured, regular check-in is helpful too. I like when people just ask me questions, how things are going, and even maybe have a curriculum through it. I feel like some of the ones that I did actually had a thing that they were going through with topics and ways to make the trial feel like it was about me, asking me personal questions about how I was going through. I've really appreciated those.

Tests and Questions

Before, during, and at the end of clinical trials, most people had experience with testing, questionnaires, and other monitoring activities. Susan’s trial included urine tests, blood tests, electrocardiograms, and MRIs. Nijay and Amy’s child had a spinal tap and Jennifer A. had a scan that showed the weight of her bones. Katrina described doing biopsies before the trial started. Fred had “pretty extensive tests” at the start of his trial and had to stay in the hospital for monitoring after he took the trial medication. Jennifer A. answered survey questions at the end of her trial.

 

Bianca describes going for special tests after the trial she was in ended suddenly.

Bianca describes going for special tests after the trial she was in ended suddenly.

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And then just getting this phone call at work, from the nurse in my doctor's office, saying “stop immediately,” that's kind of all I remember about Linomide.

Oh, and by the way, on that one, they told me—and I got a letter about it, saying you should have an echocardiogram to check your heart every year. And I called him and said, "Really, I'm going to have to go to a hospital and have an echocardiogram every year because of this possible—?" I mean, this was about the Novantrone, I think. The Linomide also had the heart issue. So, I had a few over the years, but I don't go every year. He said, “If you don't have symptoms, you can kind of take that with a grain of salt.” But I think maybe, legally, he had to say that.

Many people talked about frequent blood tests. Fred got one every two weeks to monitor his liver function and David S. every week. Dev said they “used to take out a lot of blood from me.” Several people also got MRIs as part of their trials: Fred and Mercedes both said MRIs were “a long time to lay on your back.”

 

Kara describes various tests.

Kara describes various tests.

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They take so much blood. Oh, my goodness, oh. For the first, you know, three months, I was at—yeah, I think first three months, I was at the neurologist at least once a week getting between 8 and 20 tubes of blood taken. They’re testing for everything. Which is, you know, I understand why. But yeah, for the first three months of the first medicine, it was a lot. CT scans every once a month, labs every day, and I got the-, I got dosed with the medicine more frequently, and then it stretched out. And like, it was like once a week that it was stretched, it stretched out somehow, because it was kind of a loading dose with it and seeing how your body reacted to it. And it was so much blood; get ready for a lot of blood work. A lot of blood pressure taken like three times in a row. Like back, to back, to back, which is technically bad, because if you do blood pressure like that, it’s going to be falsely high, but that’s beside point. And also, like these games-, mind things, like, you know. You have letters and then shapes, and so when you see the shape, you have to correlate it with the letter, and they time you with that. And just little—just to see if you improve. It’s-, it’s intense for the first little bit. It’s hours. EKGs, so the-, I knew whenever I would go in, I would be there for hours, like literally hours.

Julia and Mia had tests that involved movement. David R. talked about the clinical trial team measuring “how quickly one could walk around the hallways.” Rochelle described her tests as being “like a physical where you walk, jump. And then you do different obstacles.”

Liz did cognitive tests and neurological exams. Jim completed math tests and puzzles. Kelsey describes her cognitive test as “something where you had to trace outlines of things. And that was a measurement of fine motor skills.” Fred participated in a test that involved moving eggs in and out of a container with each hand. Elaine found vision tests with the colored dots and hard-to-see letters “very frustrating.”

 

Susan talks about being “competitive” with herself on neurological tests.

Susan talks about being “competitive” with herself on neurological tests.

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And then you do all the neurological tests. They do you know, the testings on you and games that you have to maneuver and play. It got to be kind of funny because I would– I got kind of competitive with myself, like what I could do faster the next time or what I could do better. And you know if it's stacking things or distributing things, I'm like OK, I can do this faster now.

 

Mercedes says some tests were “kind of fun” and others were challenging.

Mercedes says some tests were “kind of fun” and others were challenging.

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And what was your experience of some of the tests and processes you mentioned in terms of what it was like to go in for the trial?


I thought they were kind of fun for the most part. You know you'd have to do this adding test and subtracting test. And I liked that, it stimulated my mind cognitively. I thought they were pretty fun. The only part I didn't like would be the lab work. You know, having to be stuck. Or sometimes the MRI because it's challenging to stay still throughout the entire time, but that's it. That was only once every, I think, six months. I can't remember. It wasn't too bad.

People also answered questions throughout their trials. As Susan puts it, you “get a lot of questions asked of you.” Tiffany filled out surveys and answered questions on the telephone about her pain level. Jason completed a survey at the beginning and the end of his trial. Julia had to communicate with the trial team about what she was eating. Nora was asked questions about fatigue and Jennifer A. about her stress level. Debra C. and Joan tracked their symptoms.

 

Liz emphasizes needing to “be open” when filling out questionnaires.

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Liz emphasizes needing to “be open” when filling out questionnaires.

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There were also questionnaires and things that I would fill out. And you know, you just really needed to be open about any side effects and any sensations, anything that we were experiencing. Any infections or any medication, anything that I was taking, they needed to know from the study. I don't have really anything negative to say about it. It went well.

 

Joan says she focused on her symptoms more than usual when she was in a trial.

Joan says she focused on her symptoms more than usual when she was in a trial.

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Right, so the nurse will come in every time I had chemo, and ask me what all my side effects were. And I said to her, “You know, I feel like I'm complaining by telling you all this.” And she said to me, “Well, just think about it like it's a science project.” So that was a lot better.

And so, for me, the best way to do it was she gave me a chart. And then I was able to log it. So, then I didn't feel like I was complaining. But because I don't like to focus on that stuff. Because I think that it's just the power of negative thinking. And if you just can move on and not focus so much on it, then it's better.

Sharing Health Information

Most people had no concerns about sharing their test results, health history, and other data related to their health with clinical trial teams. As Susan put it, sharing data “doesn’t bother [her] at all.” Jennifer is “kind of an open book.” Bianca reasoned that “I’ve shared so much data—my data is out there” and noted that she “feel[s] like a good citizen” when she fills out long surveys about her family history. Some people saw sharing data as part of contributing to scientific advances. Rhonda emphasized that she is “okay with it because that’s what I expect. That’s how we make progress.” Debra N. hopes her data will be useful. Some people only felt comfortable sharing their data if their name would not be used. Mercedes, for example, said sharing data was "no problem whatsoever. As long as my name was not—not attached.”

 

Kara describes why she felt okay sharing her data.

Kara describes why she felt okay sharing her data.

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No. I mean, I felt fine because it, it was, you know, whatever they took from me is like, you know, hopefully it’ll help someone else. And they’ll able to use my information to maybe get this FDA approved. To add me to the statistics of, like, you know, they worked well, but the-, you know, her IGM levels were low. Initial blood analysis and lumbar punctures are similar, this could happen. So, it really didn’t bother me. It’s this kind of like, I mean, what’s it going to hurt? I don’t, you know—it didn’t, I’m not one of those people that’s like, the government has all my information, and, you know. No, I’m not that way at all. Because I’m just like, I have nothing to hide from, you know. I don’t have anything to hide, so I might as well just use it for something good.

 

Debra C. talks about being given a study ID number.

Debra C. talks about being given a study ID number.

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But anyway, you know, the consent, I always had to sign consent forms you know, saying that I was willing be in it and have my information shared within the trial with other people that you know, were all working within the trial and any other entities that they were doing this study with. So-

How did you feel about sharing your data in that way?

You know I mean, I was, I mean, all of those or most of those, you're always given like—the first one I did, the HINT trial, I was given number three, which that was actually my favorite number. So, I was like, oh, that's cool. And then the one, the diet one, you were given a number again, some number, like six-digit number or something like that. And I’m just, you know, -So it didn't really matter, because it’s like you know, you know, I mean your identity is like whatever. You know you're just a number or you're just a name. So- …. Yeah – yeah it doesn't bother me to share that.

 

Karen trusts the clinical trial team to keep her data confidential.

Karen trusts the clinical trial team to keep her data confidential.

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Any feelings you’ve had about sort of sharing your health data with clinical trials?

I know there are some people that probably are real funny about that, and I can understand and see both sides of that coin. And maybe it’s because I’m not in a job where my health issues are front and center or where an employer would need to know more details about my health. I’m not really, really concerned a whole lot with that whole issue. I’m really not. I guess I trust that when they say there’s going to be confidentiality, that there is. And I just trust the process. And nothing has happened yet to make me not trust that. So, I’m pretty okay with, you know, releasing my medical information within a clinical setting, and I’m just assuming that they’re following the rules of confidentiality.

Getting Health Information Back

Some people said they got no information about their personal health back, while others said results of their trial tests became part of their permanent medical records. Mercedes appreciated that her usual multiple sclerosis (MS) care team could see and make treatment decisions based on her trial-related MRIs. Debbie said she used her test results for her “own self-monitoring” and to infer whether the study drug had been effective for her. A number of people wished they had gotten back more information. Rhonda noted she should be able to have her own results. David R. wanted his as well but thought maybe they weren’t shared with him because doing so would interfere with the scientific process. Most people talked about how they would be alerted if there were any concerning test results related to their own health, even if they got no other data or overall results back. Participants also talked about wanting to get information about the trial itself when it was over.

 

Mia didn’t get information back after her trial.

Mia didn’t get information back after her trial.

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And then when I went back for the medication study for the fatigue, they wouldn't even give up the medical data that needed to go in my chart. And I wasn't even on the study anymore, and even signed up for this thing to do part of a group to tell us what we took. They didn't do that either. I don't know. So those things—I don't tend towards [INSTITUTION] studies anymore.

 

Debra N. was not able to use her trial-related tests for her usual care.

Debra N. was not able to use her trial-related tests for her usual care.

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No. That was part of the thing that I signed up for in the beginning is that they did not have that for you because I know at one point getting an MRI, you know laying in the box and having them take pictures of your brain was part of the study. And that, of course, took a whole day and trying to schedule for all of that. I know when I first flopped over to regular health care, I'm like, “Well, can't you just use that one?” “No, you can't. Biogen owns that, and we don't have those.” They had to go all the way back to my original MRI to get any kind of pictures of all of the stuff on my brain. I'm like, OK, that would have been nice if they had given me one of those but whatever. It didn't work so.

 

Lainey appreciates being able to talk about her test results.

Lainey appreciates being able to talk about her test results.

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I get a CAT scan every three months. Between like every third treatment I'll get a, I'll get a CAT scan. And I get a report that shows, OK, when it started, it was this much. Then the next time it was this much. And then this. You know? So they, you know, they take a sample size—not a sample size. But they have measurements. And overall shrinkage is like 60%.

So does somebody talk that report through with you? Or?

Yeah. Yeah. The doctors. And believe me, if I have questions, I'm on the phone with the nurse saying “What does this mean? You know. I'm reading this now.” Because with the patient portals now, that’s been—you know, that's great that you can get that information. Because when I was going through the breast cancer and- and the Hodgkin's, nothing like that existed. Hodgkin's was back in '96, '95. And then the breast cancer in 2003. So that did not exist at that time. So to be able to print that information, and just review it, and- and look at it, and, and–you could get your questions prepared for your next visit: “Well, this happened here, what about this?”, “And I don't understand this, explain this to me.” Rather than looking up Wikipedia, you know, online because there is so much information out there, I'd rather talk to my doctor about it. And then have que-, you know, and he will answer my questions. Or, you know, I call my nurse. She's fantastic. She's like, “OK, this means this. This means that. And I know you're excited. So I just—I'm calling you to let you know your CAT scan was- was great.” You know, that type of thing.