This guide provides an overview of how to input a consent form into a REDCap project.
Introduction
If you are collecting data from participants, you may need to include a consent form for participants to read and agree to participate in your study. REDCap provide several ways to create a consent form to suit your needs and your study. If you have not used REDCap before, it is recommended that you read the REDCap overview guide beforehand.
Participant information
In REDCap, there are two ways to input your participant or patient information into your consent form:
1. Put the information directly into the REDCap consent form itself using a ‘Descriptive Text’ field.
The text box provided doesn’t limit the characters or words in the field, so you can add as much information as needed. It also allows you to use a ‘Rich Text Editor’, which provides many basic text editing options, such as bold, italics, image insert, lists, and more. As with all fields in REDCap, a descriptive field also needs a Variable Name. If you need a refresher on the types of fields that REDCap provides, there is a link to a helpful video at the top of the Edit Field window.
2. Alternatively, you can use a downloadable PDF of your patient information sheet. This allows participants to open and download a copy of the information for future reference. This is also done using the ‘Descriptive Text’ field.
This option allows you to upload a PDF that can be added to the field as a link or as an inline PDF (or image if that’s what you’re uploading). You can also add audio files.
The link version of the PDF will vary depending on the viewer's status.
As a REDCap project editor, you will see this:
Whilst the survey participant will see this:
Please note that you must have surveys enabled in your project to do this. You can do this in the ‘Project Setup’ window under ‘main project settings’. The survey option is the very top one.
The inline PDF view also varies depending on the viewer status.
For REDCap editors it will look like this:
Whilst participants will see this:
The benefit of the descriptive field is that you can combine both options above to have your information as text within your REDCap project and as a downloadable PDF.
Consent questions
REDCap also offers a few options for creating consent questions. These will typically be done using Radio button options, Text fields, and/or signature options.
Radio buttons
Radio buttons provide either a ‘Yes/No’ or you can customise the options provided. If you select the ‘Yes/No’ option, the radio buttons cannot be edited. But if you only require ‘yes/no’ answers, then this option can save time.
It’s possible to customise the radio buttons to different options such as ‘I do consent/I do not consent’ or ‘I understand/I do not understand’’ by selecting Multiple Choice – Radio Buttons:
Please note that your radio button option list must be labelled with numbers as seen in the screenshot above.
Text box
If you need to capture a participant’s initials for consent instead of using radio buttons, you can use a text box.
Text Box field type:
Please note that for a text box, there is no validation for initials so a participant can input something else in error.
Signature
The last option you may need is the signature field. This allows the participant to e-sign the consent form using either a computer mouse or their finger on a tablet or phone.
The screenshot below shows what a participant will see when they select ‘add signature’.
Alternatively, you can include another text box for them to type a signature instead of drawing one.
Contact
If you require more information, advice or support please email us at [email protected]