International Journal of New Technology and Research (IJNTR) ISSN:2454-4116, Volume-2, Issue-1, January 2016 Pages 17-21 17 www.ijntr.org Abstract— Background: Saudi Arabia has recently become more devoted to clinical research, which remains a relatively new and challenging area for researchers. Recruiting individual subjects in clinical research is believed to be an essential element in clinical trial success and is intensely dependent on the potential willingness of subjects to participate in clinical trials. Methods: A cross sectional study of a purposive sample of 323 health professionals was conducted. The study participants included students of Nursing and Medical College, physicians, nurses and paramedical personnel. A validated questionnaire assessing the willingness to participate, motives, obstacles was used. Results: In general, about 80% of the participants were willing to participate in clinical research. The highest percentage of willingness to participate was reported when participants were asked about their willingness to answer questions in surveys (90.7%). Nearly 80% of participants considered getting a free medical tests and appointments as important intensives whereas 69.8% supported financial incentives to be efficient in encouraging people to participate in clinical research. Weak positive though significant correlation was detected between level of trust in the research institute and willingness to participate in clinical research. Conclusion: Overall, this study confirmed that the decision for participation in research is closely related to the nature of the clinical trials, people usually welcome participation in questionnaires and noninvasive studies but their concerns are major when deciding for their children. Saudi community favors the free medical services to financial aids as incentives to participate in research trials. Index Terms : Acceptance, clinical trial, research subjects, willingness. I. INTRODUCTION Saudi Arabia has recently become more devoted to clinical research, which remains a relatively new and challenging area for researchers. Recruiting individual subjects in clinical research is believed to be an essential element in clinical trial success and is intensely dependent on the potential willingness of subjects to participate in clinical trials [1]. Previous literatures have recognized many contributing factors of the potential willingness of participants to join research trials including, age[2] race [3], and various personal reasons[4]. Rejection to join clinical trials may be due to worries about drug side-effects, busy lifestyles, distrusting physicians or Amel Fayed, College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, High Institute of Public Health,Alexandria University,Alexandria,Egypt. . institutes conducting the research. Furthermore, significant decisions, such as participation in clinical trials, are expected to be more challenging if one is going to decide for his children.[5] The nature of the clinical trial itself is a possible factor that can influence a subject‟s decision to participate or to decline involvement in clinical research. Participation in a clinical trial that involves new drugs differs from trials that merely require answering questionnaires. However, the ability of researchers to explain to participants the nature of the trial, and possible drawbacks along with participants „trust in the researchers and the research institute, can play a crucial role in participant‟s decision .[6-8]. This study‟s aim is to identify the willingness of health professionals towards being a research subject and to investigate the different barriers and motivations that may help in recruiting patients in clinical trials. II. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross sectional study of a purposive sample of 323 health professionals was conducted. The study participants included students of Nursing and Medical College along with physicians, nurses and paramedical personnel. The study was conducted in King Abdul-Aziz Medical City and King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences after approval from the scientific research committee (RC12/109/R). All participants were invited to complete the pretested questionnaire after giving a verbal consent to participate in the study. The first section of the questionnaire inquired about demographic data as age, gender, nationality and occupation. The second section of the questionnaire assessed the willingness to participate in clinical trials. This section was derived from a validated published study[9]. It included one general question about willingness to participate in clinical trial as a research subject. Other specific questions examining willingness to participate in different clinical studies as completing surveys or giving blood/urine/ saliva samples were included. More questions examining the willingness to participate in different clinical trials as; diet program, new drugs for treating hypertension and study for surgeries in cancer were incorporated. The answers for these questions were available on a 10-points scale where “One” represents “I would never participate” and “Ten” represents “Very willing to participate”. The scores for answers were grouped into two categories; unwilling to participate (scores 1 to 4) and “willing to participate” (scores 5 to 10 inclusive). Participants were required to evaluate the importance and Willingness of a Sample of Health Professionals to Participate in Clinical Research as Research Subjects Amel Ahmed Fayed