Information for study teams

Frequently asked questions

Information and consent - do the study participants have to be informed and sign a consent form before being invited to take part in the survey?
No. It is sufficient to invite the study participants to take part in the survey by handing them the flyer. As this is an anonymous survey, no further information/consent is required.

Is the survey anonymous?
Yes, the answers to the questions do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about individuals.

Who is invited to take part in the survey?
People who are currently participating in a clinical trial are invited to take part in the survey.

Who has designed the survey?
The survey was developed in collaboration with patients by a project team from the Department of Clinical Research at the University of Basel and the Federal Office of Public Health FOPH. → Learn more about patient involvement

What is involved in the survey?
- The questionnaire is either completed online or in paper form.
- The survey is entirely anonymous
- The questionnaire is available in German, French, Italian and English.
- Completing the questionnaire takes about 10-25 minutes.

Why is a participation code needed?
There are very different categories of clinical trials. We want to be able to allocate the participants' feedback to these trial categories. The participation code is used for this purpose. However, it is not possible to identify the participant. 

Can the answers of the questionnaire be safed and completed later?
It is not possible to interrupt the completion of the questionnaire and resume it at a later stage.

How were the studies selected?
Based on publicly available information from Swiss trial registers (RAPS and SNCTP), 200 clinical trials were randomly selected and their sponsors were contacted.

Inclusion criteria for the clinical trials
a) ongoing clinical trials (drugs, medical devices, other clinical trials)
b) Approval by the ethics committee between June 2021 and December 2023
c) Study centres in Switzerland
d) Include study participants aged > 18 years
e) Have in-person study visits in the next 6 months
f) Consent of the sponsor/sponsor representative to the INPUT Survey 

Why is it important to invite study participants?
Surveys can be used to give the people taking part in your clinical trial a voice. In this way, you can help to ensure that future studies can better address the needs of study participants.