Video consent is preferred over written informed consent in pediatric rheumatology research

The goal of this study was to determine the difference in participant understanding, satisfaction, timing and, preference between video consent and written informed consent in a pediatric rheumatology research setting. Participants were randomized to receive either video consent or written informed consent for a registry study. After completing the first consent method, they completed a comprehension and satisfaction questionnaire. Then they received the alternate consent method and completed a second set of questionnaires. Bayesian non-parametric tests determined the difference in comprehension, satisfaction, timing and preference between video consent and written informed consent. Ninety-nine caregivers and 76 patients were randomized into video consent (n = 88) and written informed consent (n = 87) groups. Comprehension (Max = 12) and satisfaction (Max = 5) were high in both groups. There was moderate evidence supporting no difference in comprehension (medianvideo consent = 11 and medianwritten informed consent = 10) and satisfaction (medianvideo consent = 4 and medianwritten informed consent = 5) between video consent and written informed consent (BF10 = 0.225 and 0.32, respectively). The median time to complete video consent and written informed consent was 408 (95% Credible Interval (CrI): 397-412) and 360 (95% CrI: 329-391) seconds, respectively. There was decisive evidence that video consent increased the time of consent (in our sample by 48 seconds) compared to written informed consent (BF10 = 713). There was decisive evidence for participants preferring video consent over written informed consent (BF10 = 2.307x1011) as they thought it was easier to follow. Overall, participant understanding and satisfaction were comparable between video consent and written informed consent. Even though video consent was slightly less time efficient compared to written informed consent, video consent was highly preferred by caregivers and patients, supporting its use to obtain informed consent.