RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Increase in recruitment upon integration of trial into a clinical care pathway: an observational study
JF BMJ Open Respiratory Research
JO BMJ Open Resp Res
FD British Thoracic Society
SP e000967
DO 10.1136/bmjresp-2021-000967
VO 8
IS 1
A1 Kay Por Yip
A1 Simon Gompertz
A1 Catherine Snelson
A1 Jeremy Willson
A1 Shyam Madathil
A1 Syed SA Huq
A1 Farrukh Rauf
A1 Natasha Salmon
A1 Joyce Tengende
A1 Julie Tracey
A1 Brendan Cooper
A1 Kay Filby
A1 Simon Ball
A1 Dhruv Parekh
A1 Davinder P S Dosanjh
YR 2021
UL http://bmjopenrespres.bmj.com/content/8/1/e000967.abstract
AB Introduction Many respiratory clinical trials fail to reach their recruitment target and this problem exacerbates existing funding issues. Integration of the clinical trial recruitment process into a clinical care pathway (CCP) may represent an effective way to significantly increase recruitment numbers.Methods A respiratory support unit and a CCP for escalation of patients with severe COVID-19 were established on 11 January 2021. The recruitment process for the Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy-Respiratory Support trial was integrated into the CCP on the same date. Recruitment data for the trial were collected before and after integration into the CCP.Results On integration of the recruitment process into a CCP, there was a significant increase in recruitment numbers. Fifty patients were recruited over 266 days before this process occurred whereas 108 patients were recruited over 49 days after this process. There was a statistically significant increase in both the proportion of recruited patients relative to the number of COVID-19 hospital admissions (change from 2.8% to 9.1%, p<0.0001) and intensive therapy unit admissions (change from 17.8% to 50.2%, p<0.001) over the same period, showing that this increase in recruitment was independent of COVID-19 prevalence.Discussion Integrating the trial recruitment process into a CCP can significantly boost recruitment numbers. This represents an innovative model that can be used to maximise recruitment without impacting on the financial and labour costs associated with the running of a respiratory clinical trial.Data are available upon request