Oklahomans place such a high value on medical research that more than half said they would be willing to pay $1 more for each prescription drug or $1 more per week in taxes to fund it.
Officials representing the Presbyterian Health Foundation, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center released these survey findings Tuesday during an Oklahoma City news conference.
The three officials said the findings were from the first stateside, comprehensive survey of Oklahoman’s attitudes toward medical research.
According to the public opinion poll, Oklahomans have high support for, and interest in, medical research. A majority agrees that spending money on medical research benefits the state’s economy.
“This is a very important message that Oklahomans are sending out,” said Dr. Joseph Ferretti, provost of OU’s medical campus. “Clearly, they believe clinical research is very important, and they are willing to support it.”
The state opinion poll involved a telephone survey of 800 adults in Oklahoma, taken between July 16 and 22.
The poll was commissioned by Research! America and financed by the three Oklahoma institutions holding the news conference.
Research! America is a nonprofit national alliance of groups dedicated to enhancing public education and advocacy for medical research.
Nearly 90 percent of those interviewed approve of state-funded incentives to attract medical research to Oklahoma.
Moreover, 95 percent said it is important for Oklahoma to be a leader in medical research, although only 34 percent feel the state now plays such a leadership role.
Eighty-eight percent of respondents said it is very or somewhat important to spend money on medical research in the state because it adds jobs and increases the incomes of Oklahoma residents.
Foundation President Dr. J. Donald Capra said research spending at his foundation and OU totals about $75 million a year.
“That translated into a lot of jobs for Oklahomans,” Capra said. “Depending on which economist you talk to, the multiplier effect of that $75 million is between four-and tenfold.”
According to the poll, a majority (75 percent) also believes the federal government should support basic research. Three out of five said they favor a proposal to double total national spending on government-sponsored medical research.
Jean Gumerson, president of the Presbyterian Health Foundation, called the poll’s findings “very exciting.”
“If we really want to make a difference in people’s lives, then research is the way to go,” Gumerson said Tuesday.
Seven out of 10 Oklahomans also told pollsters the media don’t report enough information about both medical research and education. Fifty-nine percent decried the lack of news coverage about Medicare.
Respondents said too much media coverage is given to entertainment news (70 percent) and political fund-raising scandals (64 percent).
Other results of the poll show that:
- Ninety-five percent of all Oklahoma respondents believe clinical research to be of value, with 55 percent indicating that it is of “great value.”
- Three-fourths of those surveyed agree that Congress should support tax and regulatory policies that encourage private industries to conduct more research.
- Eight out of 10 said they are more likely to think a hospital is “good” if they know that the hospital is doing research and training medical students.
- Three out of five said they would be willing to participate as a volunteer in a clinical study.
- Ninety-three percent of respondents consider nurses and personal physicians to be the most trustworthy sources of information about health and medical research.
Also, 89 percent consider voluntary health agencies such as the American Lung Association or the American Cancer Society, medical schools and dentist as highly credible sources for this type of information.
The next most trust-worthy group included the American Medical Association and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, followed by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. surgeon general.
Oklahomans view health maintenance organizations as the lease credible sources of information on health and medical research issues.
