Backgrounds Healthy volunteers play a key role in clinical trials and it is crucial to develop recruitment strategies that capitalise on their motivations and maximise their participation. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of finding motivated healthy volunteers for the development of new vaccines. Public registers represent a promising way to promote the participation of healthy volunteers in the research field, but their adoption is still limited. The current study aimed to explore the motivations of healthy volunteers to enrol in an Italian public register for clinical trials during the COVID-19 pandemic and their attitude toward participating in a phase 1 COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial. The impacts of different enrolling interview modalities (in person, by phone, by mail) on motivation, understanding of information and trust in researchers were also investigated. Methods An online survey investigating experience with COVID-19, motivations to enrol, trust in researchers, political and healthcare authorities and pharmacological companies was presented to people applying as healthy volunteers in the public register for clinical trials at Phase 1 Unit Research Centre of ASST Monza, Italy, and considering to participate in a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial. Data were collected in June 2021. Results Altruistic motivations were the main driver for enrolling in the public register, while self-interested motivations were secondary. No gender differences were found. As for enrolling modalities, no differences emerged between in-person and interviews for motivation to enrol, understanding of information and trust in researchers. Email modality led to significantly lower volunteers’ satisfaction and understanding of information but similar trust in research. Conclusions This study supports the validity of different interview modalities (in person and by phone) for the enrolment of healthy volunteers for clinical trials and highlights the positive role of public registers for the recruitment procedures.

No abstract

There has been a growing interest in the study of masculinity and its intersection with health. However, and despite epidemiological data showing men’s general disadvantage in health, there are only a few empirical studies that explore men’s experiences of chronic illness. Drawing on empirical data collected in qualitative research on masculinity and autoimmune diabetes, this article investigates the multiple ways in which gender may intersect with health, in an attempt to go beyond the widespread thesis that ‘masculinity is bad for men’s health’. In line with more recent critical perspectives on the study of men’s health that have challenged this oversimplistic assumption, this work further problematises masculinity in relation to health and illness. In‐depth interviews have been conducted with 40 young/adult diabetic men from working/middle‐class backgrounds. The findings show that gender might intersect health in complex ways and diabetic men can embody and re‐signify health practices in order to fulfil or redefine dominant ideals of masculinity. From the analysis, three different ‘diabetic masculinities’ have been identified and will be discussed: the Diabetic Quantified Self, the Athlete and the Free Spirit.

No abstract

No abstract