The Clinical Trials Guru

Retention Tools Often Used in Clinical Trials
Once a study participant has enrolled into a study, the research clinic and the sponsoring company will do everything in their power to keep this individual motivated to continue in the study. Research centers are motivated to keep their study participants in the trial as long as possible by receiving payments from the drug companies for every study visit that the participant completes. Drug companies’ reasons to keep retention rates high at sites are influenced by being able to provide more complete data to the FDA once the study is complete, and also to avoid study delays due to slow enrollment and low retention. But what can motivate the study participant to stay in a clinical trial, especially when the study may involve long office visits, and complicated (and sometimes frustrating) study procedures? We have listed some common retention tools currently being utilized by drug companies and research centers to keep retention rates high. It’s important to note that all retention tools must be approved by an IRB (ethics committee) so this eliminates the immediately obvious solution of paying trial participants more money. With that being said, we still believe that better alternatives can be provided as retention tools other than some of the following typically found in any study. Here are some common retention tools currently being used these days:
-Toiletry kits (these are ok)
-Certificates of Completion (corny)
-Reminder Cards (should be used anyways)
-Birthday Cards (nice, but not effective)
-Calendar Organizers (who really needs one of these in July?)
Here are some suggestions we would make that we believe would be more effective retention tools:
-Movie Tickets at milestone visits
-Snacks/Lunch During Study Visits
-Complimentary Transportation to/from Research Clinic
-Teaching participant how to save their money that they earn from the study
-Treating participant like a human being and not a number

Let us know what you think about our suggestions, and if you have any others you would like to share.