Simulated Motivations: Understanding Influences on Medical Professionals Decision Making to Participate in Human Factors Research Studies

Human factors research often involves the use of domain experts as research subjects, and in studies that target healthcare providers as participants, recruitment can be challenging. Physicians are particularly difficult to recruit given their time constraints and relatively high threshold for financial incentive. Understanding the motivation for physician participation in healthcare studies can allow researchers to better design their recruitment tactics. The purpose of this study is to look at themes that influenced obstetrics and gynecology (OB-GYN) physicians to participate or not participate in a research study. OB-GYN physicians were interviewed regarding their perceptions around their decision to participate (or not) in a recently completed study which aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of serious game simulation training. Factors that influenced their motivation to participate were uncovered. Compensation, professional respect, and novel-learning experiences were factors found to motivate participation while time and awareness of the study were found to deter participation. Developing flexible recruitment strategies tailored to the factors that influence recruitment and participation may increase OB-GYN participation rates in human factors studies.