Effectiveness of newspaper advertising for patient recruitment into a clinical trial

Abstract

AIMSTo measure the impact of newspaper advertising across Scotland on patient interest, and subsequent recruitment into the Standard Care vs. Celecoxib Outcome Trial (SCOT), a clinical trial investigating the cardiovascular safety of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. METHODSNewspaper advertisements about the SCOT trial were placed sequentially in regional and national Scottish newspapers. The number of phone calls as a result of exposure to the advertisements and ongoing study recruitment rates were recorded before, during and after the advertising campaign. To enroll in SCOT individuals had to be registered with a participating GP practice. RESULTSThe total cost for the advertising campaign was £46 250 and 320 phone calls were received as a result of individuals responding to the newspaper advertisements. One hundred and seventy-two individuals were identified as possibly suitable to be included in the study. However only 36 were registered at participating GP practices, 17 completed a screening visit and 15 finally were randomized into the study. The average cost per respondent individual was £144 and the average cost per randomized patient was £3083. Analysis of recruitment rate trends showed that there was no impact of the newspaper advertising campaign on increasing recruitment into SCOT. CONCLUSIONSAdvertisements placed in local and national newspapers were not an effective recruitment strategy for the SCOT trial. The advertisements attracted relatively small numbers of respondents, many of whom did not meet study inclusion criteria or were not registered at a participating GP practice.

Evaluating the efficacy of a registry linked to a consent to re-contact program and communication strategies for recruiting and enrolling participants into clinical trials

“…Minimizing study costs without compromising study deadlines or targeted accrual goals is an optimal practice for clinical studies. Due to the high proportion of trials that fail to meet enrollment goals or complete enrollment on time [24] , and experience an increase in costs [7] , this finding is particularly noteworthy. It also suggests that strategically communicating with prospective participants, including those without an existing relationship with the study team (e.g., patients identified via a registry), benefits individual studies and contributes to national efforts aimed at increasing participation in clinical research.…”

“…In order to achieve recruiting and accrual goals, without draining study resources, researchers must think strategically about how to communicate with their prospective cohorts after they have been identified. Even with registries, challenges to recruiting remain; registries rely on one or more follow-up strategies for contacting and recruiting participants [2] , which can dramatically increase costs [7] , even for well-funded studies. Effective communication with participants after they have been identified is critical to recruiting and enrolling prospective participants into clinical studies.…”

Lessons from a pilot and feasibility randomised trial in depression (Blood pressure Rapid Intensive Lowering And Normal Treatment for Mood and cognition in persistent depression (BRILiANT mood study))

“…This indicates that the criteria were not accurately applied in practice and raises the possibility that potential subjects were also missed. Finally, recruitment using advertising did not yield a significant number of suitable participants [45]. …”

Strategies to enhance recruitment methods in phantom limb pain clinical trials

“…Recruitment is especially challenging for PLP studies when compared to recruiting for other pain syndromes, as PLP has a relatively low prevalence 16 .…”