Acceptability of Research and Health Care Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Survey Study

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a widespread impact on attendance in biomedical research and health care visits.

Objective: This study aimed to identify when and how American adults might feel comfortable about resuming in-person research and health care visits.

Methods: Cross-sectional questionnaire data were collected from 135 adults (age: median 48 years; women: n=113, 83.7%; White participants: n=92, 68.2%) who were engaged in health-related research.

Results: More than half of the respondents (65/122, 53.3%) felt that the COVID-19 pandemic positively affected their desire to participate in research. Although 73.6% (95/129) of respondents also indicated a willingness to attend in-person health care visits while Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines are implemented, 85.8% (109/127) indicated a willingness to attend in-person, outdoor visits, and 92.2% (118/128) reported a willingness to attend drive-through visits (with CDC guidelines implemented during both visit types). Videoconferencing was the most preferred format for intervention visits; however, adults over the age of 65 years preferred this format less than younger adults (P=.001).

Conclusions: Researchers and clinicians should continue to provide opportunities for continuing the conduction of remote-based interventions while enforcing CDC guidelines during in-person visits.