Delayed consent group
The standard informed consent procedures used in the hospital for clinical trials were followed for SWAT participants prior to participation in the trial. The participants who chose to give consent on the next day or following the initial meeting were given an unsigned consent form, with an addressed and stamped envelope, after the pre-designed information leaflet for the host trial had been fully explained by the investigator and were placed in a delayed consent group. Participants were allowed time to discuss with family and friends and were advised to ring the investigators with their verbal consent and send back the signed written consent form, only when they feel comfortable joining the study. The investigator called the participant on the third day after the initial meeting (if the returned envelope had not arrived), to ask if they had decided to join or not. Participants were not coerced into consenting to participate at any time.