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Table 2 Questionnaire responses by cohort

From: Patient consent preferences on sharing personal health information during the COVID-19 pandemic: “the more informed we are, the more likely we are to help”

Question

Pandemic (N = 183)

Pre-pandemic (N = 222)

p value

Q1: Your health information is divided into several different sections (e.g. diagnoses test results and images such as x-rays or scans). Would you like to:

 Share all information

161 (88%)

177 (81%)

0.07

 Share no information

4 (2%)

12 (5%)

 

 Share specific information

18 (10%)

30 (14%)

 

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

3 (1.4%)

 

Q2: Your biological samples are classified into several different types (e.g. blood urine tissues). Would you like to:

 Share all information

163 (90%)

173 (79%)

0.009

 Share no information

4 (2%)

18 (8%)

 

 Share specific information

15 (8%)

28 (13%)

 

 Missing

1 (0.5%)

3 (1.4%)

 

Q3: There are many different areas of medical research (e.g. research on cancer diabetes reproductive disorders genetic disorders heart disease etc.). Would you like to:

 Share all information

157 (86%)

172 (79%)

0.17

 Share no information

4 (2%)

9 (4%)

 

 Share specific information

21 (12%)

37 (17%)

 

 Missing

1 (0.5%)

4 (1.8%)

 

Q4: When asked for consent to share your information or samples would you like to have an option to think about the decision and be asked again later?

 Yes

81 (44%)

107 (49%)

0.14

 No

102 (56%)

111 (51%)

 

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

4 (1.8%)

 

Q5: Your health information and samples are often requested for future studies. Would you like to:

 Broad consent

97 (53%)

119 (56%)

< 0.001

 Study-specific consent

83 (45%)

80 (38%)

 

 Would not share

3 (2%)

14 (7%)

 

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

9 (4.1%)

 

Q6: A CONTACT POOL may be created with patient names phone numbers and key pieces of health information. UHN Researchers with ethical approval for their studies could search this pool to find participants. Would you prefer to be:

 Asked for permission

105 (58%)

134 (63%)

0.06

 Automatically entered

77 (42%)

80 (37%)

 

 Missing

1 (0.5%)

8 (3.6%)

 

Q7: How comfortable are you with providing consent for your information or samples to be shared with Researchers within UHN?

 Comfortable/very comfortable

178 (97%)

183 (83%)

< 0.001

 Neutral

5 (3%)

30 (14%)

 

 Uncomfortable/very uncomfortable

0 (0%)

8 (4%)

 

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

1 (0.5%)

 

Q8: How comfortable are you with providing consent for your information or samples to be shared with Researchers at other hospital-based research institutes?

 Comfortable/very comfortable

155 (85%)

153 (70%)

0.001

 Neutral

17 (9%)

44 (20%)

 

 Uncomfortable/very uncomfortable

11 (6%)

25 (11%)

 

Q9: How comfortable are you with providing consent for your information or samples to be shared with Researchers at universities?

 Comfortable/very comfortable

152 (84%)

153 (70%)

0.010

 Neutral

18 (10%)

39 (18%)

 

 Uncomfortable/very uncomfortable

11 (6%)

26 (12%)

 

 Missing

2 (1.1%)

4 (1.8%)

 

Q10: How comfortable are you with providing consent for your information or samples to be shared with For-profit businesses (e.g. drug or insurance companies such as Pfizer)?

 Comfortable/very comfortable

50 (27%)

59 (27%)

0.58

 Neutral

41 (22%)

49 (22%)

 

 Uncomfortable/very uncomfortable

92 (50%)

111 (51%)

 

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

3 (1.4%)

 

Q11: How comfortable are you with providing consent for your information or samples to be shared with Not-for-profit businesses (e.g. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada)?

 Comfortable/very comfortable

124 (68%)

125 (57%)

0.09

 Neutral

34 (19%)

50 (23%)

 

 Uncomfortable/very uncomfortable

24 (13%)

44 (20%)

 

 Missing

1 (0.5%)

3 (1.4%)

 

Q12: How comfortable are you with providing consent for your information or samples to be shared Provincially (i.e. within Ontario)?

 Comfortable/very comfortable

127 (69%)

117 (53%)

0.002

 Neutral

36 (20%)

58 (27%)

 

 Uncomfortable/very uncomfortable

20 (11%)

44 (20%)

 

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

3 (1.4%)

 

Q13: How comfortable are you with providing consent for your information or samples to be shared Nationally (i.e. within Canada)?

 Comfortable/very comfortable

119 (65%)

116 (53%)

0.022

 Neutral

40 (22%)

57 (26%)

 

 Uncomfortable/very uncomfortable

24 (13%)

46 (21%)

 

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

3 (1.4%)

 

Q14: How comfortable are you with providing consent for your information or samples to be shared Internationally (i.e. around the world)?

 Comfortable/very comfortable

87 (48%)

85 (39%)

0.024

 Neutral

50 (27%)

53 (24%)

 

 Uncomfortable/very uncomfortable

46 (25%)

81 (37%)

 

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

3 (1.4%)

 

Q15: Sometimes for-profit companies develop partnerships with UHN and we work together on medical research projects. How comfortable are you consenting to share your information or samples for these projects

 Comfortable/very comfortable

131 (72%)

111 (50%)

< 0.001

 Neutral

29 (16%)

48 (22%)

 

 Uncomfortable/very uncomfortable

23 (13%)

63 (28%)

 

Q16: Sometimes for-profit companies ask UHN for health information or samples. How comfortable are you consenting to share your information or samples with these companies if UHN is not directly involved in their work?

 Comfortable/very comfortable

63 (35%)

68 (32%)

0.57

 Neutral

36 (20%)

37 (17%)

 

 Uncomfortable/very uncomfortable

80 (45%)

110 (51%)

 

 Missing

4 (2.2%)

7 (3.2%)

 

Q17: Sometimes medical research using health information or samples at UHN leads to discoveries that are commercialized and sold for-profit in the future. How do you feel about consenting to share your information or samples being involved in this?

 Comfortable/very comfortable

97 (53%)

81 (37%)

 < 0.001

 Neutral

48 (26%)

51 (23%)

 

 Uncomfortable/very uncomfortable

38 (21%)

88 (40%)

 

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

2 (0.9%)

 

Q18: Would you like to be able to track who is using your information or samples and what they are using it for?

 Yes

137 (75%)

134 (61%)

0.007

 No

43 (23%)

77 (35%)

 

 Not applicable. I would not share at all

3 (2%)

10 (4%)

 

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

1 (0.5%)

 

Q19: Would you like to be notified with the results of studies that have used your information or samples?

 Yes

151 (83%)

55 (70%)

0.012

 No

28 (15%)

57 (26%)

 

 Not applicable. I would not share at all

4 (2%)

10 (4%)

 

Q20: If you do want to be notified of study results how would you like be notified?

 Online via an electronic patient portal

103 (56%)

76 (35%)

 < 0.001

 Online via email

44 (24%)

50 (23%)

 

 Standard mail

12 (7%)

43 (19%)

 

 I do NOT want to be notified of study results

19 (10%)

40 (18%)

 

 Not applicable. I would not share at all

5 (3%)

11 (5%)

 

 Missing

0

2

 
  1. The bold values are statistically significant