An Assessment of the Knowledge of Clinical Researchers In Nigeria About the Responsible Conduct of Clinical Research.

Abstract

An assessment of the knowledge of clinical researchers in Nigeria about the responsible conduct of clinical research has become important because of the growing need of same. This study assessed the knowledge of clinical researchers in Nigeria about responsible conduct of research. This has become necessary because of the difficulty faced in finding a local, well-trained work force to conduct clinical trials in the developing world. This study surveyed clinical researchers in Nigeria to determine their level of clinical knowledge within a specific arena of Good Clinical Practice (GCP): the responsible conduct of research.   This is a pilot study and the sample size was 50. Subjects were medical researchers trained in Nigeria and currently involved in clinical research. These were drawn from academia, research institutes, teaching hospitals, regional and state hospitals and specialist treatment centers all over the country.  After getting the Institutional Review Board [IRB] approval from Northwestern University, Chicago, an introductory email with a link to the 5 minute survey on surveyMonkey was sent to clinical researchers in Nigeria. Two subsequent reminders were sent one week apart. There were 14(61%) males and 9(39%) females. Subject ages ranged between 30 and 69 years with the majority between 40 and 49 (43%) years. Most respondents (78%) graduated from medical schools more than 20 years ago. The respondents attended medical schools all over Nigeria; South West (39%), South South (22%), North Central (26%) and South East (13%). Almost all of the respondents, 21 (91%), volunteered that they have completed a formal training in responsible conduct of research. Locations of RCR training included medical school, postgraduate residency training and teaching hospital. Clinical researchers in Nigeria have some knowledge of RCR but more needs to be done in the area of training. There is a great need for the incorporation of training modules in RCR in the curriculum of students at undergraduate and graduate levels in Nigeria. A follow up study is recommended to more precisely determine the level of knowledge of clinical researchers in Nigeria about Responsible Conduct of Research.

Keywords: responsible conduct of research (RCR) , GCP, Nigeria, clinical Research.