Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Sep:72:146-157.
doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2018.08.002. Epub 2018 Aug 21.

Deception in clinical trials and its impact on recruitment and adherence of study participants

Chuen Peng Lee  1 , Tyson Holmes  2 , Eric Neri  3 , Clete A Kushida  4
Affiliations
Review

Deception in clinical trials and its impact on recruitment and adherence of study participants

Chuen Peng Lee et al. Contemp Clin Trials. 2018 Sep.

Abstract

Deceptive practices by participants in clinical research are prevalent. It has been shown that as high as 75% of participants withheld information to avoid exclusion from studies. Self-reported adherence has been found to be largely inaccurate. Overcoming deception is a critical issue, since the safety of study participants, the integrity of research data and research resources are at risk. In this review article, we examine deception from the perspective of investigators conducting clinical trials; we describe the types (concealment, fabrication, drug holidays and collusion), prevalence, risks, and predictors of deception, and propose an approach to reduce the impact of deception, especially on adherence, in clinical trials.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Identification of studies on deception
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Laurie H, Shore D, Edelstein L, Epps O. House MD. Discs 1–6. Discs 1–6. [Millers Point, N.S.W: ]: Universal Pictures (Australasia) [distributor]; 2005.
    1. Palmieri JJ, Stern TA. Lies in the Doctor-Patient Relationship. Primary Care Companion to The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 2009;11(4):163–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stephens-Davidowitz S Everybody lies : big data, new data, and what the internet can tell us about who we really are. [United States: ]: HarperLuxe; 2017.
    1. Devine EG, Waters ME, Putnam M, Surprise C, O’Malley K, Richambault C, et al. Concealment and fabrication by experienced research subjects. Clinical trials (London, England). 2013;10(6):93548. - PubMed
    1. Dresser R Subversive Subjects: Rule-Breaking and Deception in Clinical Trials. Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics. 2013;41(4):829–40. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types