Citeline’s Patient Recruitment Pulse - January Edition

What Patients Think: Key Findings from the 2025 CISCRP Perceptions & Insights Study

Welcome to the first edition of Citeline’s Patient Recruitment Pulse. In this monthly blog, we’ll discuss the trends shaping today’s patient recruitment landscape. This month, we’re taking a closer look at key results of the 2025 Perceptions & Insights study conducted by the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP).

What do patients really think about participating in clinical research? Capturing that feedback is the goal of CISCRP’s Perceptions & Insights study. And the 2025 edition had plenty of insights into their thought processes.

Since the last Perceptions & Insights study in 2023, understanding, awareness, and willingness to participate in clinical research studies have all declined (Table 1). However, the majority of respondents (87%) remained somewhat or very willing to participate in studies.

Table 1: Key Comparisons in General Perceptions

Note: Based on responses from all participants

Source: CISCRP 2025 Perceptions & Insights Study

There continues to be a disconnect between how patients want to hear about clinical research studies (from doctors) and how they actually find out about them (online). Figures 1 and 2 give the breakdown.

Figure 1: In general, how would you prefer to learn about a clinical research study?

Note: Based on responses from all participants

Source: CISCRP 2025 Perceptions & Insights Study

Figure 2: Where did you see or hear about a clinical research study?

Note: Based on responses from those who saw or heard about a clinical research study looking for volunteers for the past 6 months

Source: CISCRP 2025 Perceptions & Insights Study

Among those who responded they would prefer to see or hear about studies online, the top preferred online resource was social media, with Facebook named by those respondents as their preferred social media platform by a wide margin. Similarly, those who actually did see or hear about a clinical research study online cited social media as their top source for the information, most often through Facebook.

CISCRP also split out responses from those who had participated in a clinical research study. Among those respondents, 22% said they found out about the study online and 16% from their own doctor (Figure 3). Of the respondents who found out about the study online, 48% discovered it through social media, with 80% of those learning about it on Facebook.

Figure 3: Where did you first learn about the clinical research study?

Note: Based on responses from those who have participated in a clinical research study

Source: CISCRP 2025 Perceptions & Insights Study

A majority of respondents (81%) say they would be at least somewhat interested in attending a community event to learn more about clinical studies. These events include a local health fair or event organized by a community or patient advocacy group.

A matter of trust

According to the study, pharma continues to struggle with trustworthiness. When asked how much they trusted pharmaceutical companies that sponsor, design, and conduct clinical research studies, only 18% responded they trusted pharma “a lot,” while 28% responded with “not too much” or “not at all.” The encouraging news is that 54% said they trusted these companies “some,” meaning there is room for pharma to build trust.

The survey provided several options for ways in which pharma companies conducting research can increase respondents’ trust, and Table 2 lists the five that got the most mentions.

Table 2: What, if anything, might increase your trust in pharmaceutical companies that are conducting clinical research studies?

Note: Based on responses from all participants

Source: CISCRP 2025 Perceptions & Insights Study

When it comes to AI, study respondents felt strongly that use of AI in clinical research studies needs to be disclosed to participants (Figure 4). But interestingly, the majority expressed at least some comfort with their hypothetical clinical research data being analyzed by AI (Figure 5).

Figure 4: How important is it for pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions to make it clear if and how they have used AI as part of a clinical research study?

Note: Based on responses from all participants

Source: CISCRP 2025 Perceptions & Insights Study

Figure 5: If some of the data collected during a clinical research study was being analyzed by AI, how comfortable would you be knowing that AI was being used in this way?

Note: Based on responses from all participants

Source: CISCRP 2025 Perceptions & Insights Study

When respondents were asked what information they would be most interested in receiving after completing their participation in a clinical research study, 81% said they would want their individual study results. When asked to rank what would be most likely to keep them enrolled in a clinical research study, being able to see their own medical test results came in at No. 4.

By contrast, only 35% of those who had actually participated in a clinical study reported having received reports or updates on the results once they had completed the study. Of those respondents, 47% said they received their individual study results (Table 3).

Table 3: What information did you receive?

Note: Based on responses from all participants

Source: CISCRP 2025 Perceptions & Insights Study

In conclusion

So, what does this mean for study sponsors?

When creating a patient recruitment plan, sponsors may want to include healthcare practitioner outreach efforts, since many patients would prefer to hear about clinical trials from their physician. They should also consider holding or participating in community events as a way to reach potential clinical trial patients. And sponsors should plan to provide trial participants with their individual study results, as doing so may make a difference in their decision to participate.

As for building trust, the more open and direct a sponsor can be with patients about the risks and benefits of their clinical trial, the more likely they’ll be to trust the sponsor enough to consider participating. Being open about the use of AI in the trial also increases sponsor trustworthiness.

For more insights on how AI is being applied at Citeline and in the industry at large, visit our AI hub.

To find out how Citeline can help you activate multiple channels for healthcare providers to find your clinical trial, check out HCP Awareness.

For the best way to effortlessly share your plain language summaries, explore Citeline’s Trial Summaries solution.