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Increasing recruitment to randomised trials: a review of randomised controlled trials

BACKGROUND: Poor recruitment to randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is a widespread and important problem. With poor recruitment being such an important issue with respect to the conduct of randomised trials, a systematic review of controlled trials on recruitment methods was undertaken in order to...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Watson, Judith M, Torgerson, David J
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2006
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1559709/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16854229
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-6-34
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author Watson, Judith M
Torgerson, David J
author_facet Watson, Judith M
Torgerson, David J
author_sort Watson, Judith M
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Poor recruitment to randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is a widespread and important problem. With poor recruitment being such an important issue with respect to the conduct of randomised trials, a systematic review of controlled trials on recruitment methods was undertaken in order to identify strategies that are effective. METHODS: We searched the register of trials in Cochrane library from 1996 to end of 2004. We also searched Web of Science for 2004. Additional trials were identified from personal knowledge. Included studies had to use random allocation and participants had to be allocated to different methods of recruitment to a 'real' randomised trial. Trials that randomised participants to 'mock' trials and trials of recruitment to non-randomised studies (e.g., case control studies) were excluded. Information on the study design, intervention and control, and number of patients recruited was extracted by the 2 authors. RESULTS: We identified 14 papers describing 20 different interventions. Effective interventions included: telephone reminders; questionnaire inclusion; monetary incentives; using an 'open' rather than placebo design; and making trial materials culturally sensitive. CONCLUSION: Few trials have been undertaken to test interventions to improve trial recruitment. There is an urgent need for more RCTs of recruitment strategies.
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spelling pubmed-15597092006-09-05 Increasing recruitment to randomised trials: a review of randomised controlled trials Watson, Judith M Torgerson, David J BMC Med Res Methodol Research Article BACKGROUND: Poor recruitment to randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is a widespread and important problem. With poor recruitment being such an important issue with respect to the conduct of randomised trials, a systematic review of controlled trials on recruitment methods was undertaken in order to identify strategies that are effective. METHODS: We searched the register of trials in Cochrane library from 1996 to end of 2004. We also searched Web of Science for 2004. Additional trials were identified from personal knowledge. Included studies had to use random allocation and participants had to be allocated to different methods of recruitment to a 'real' randomised trial. Trials that randomised participants to 'mock' trials and trials of recruitment to non-randomised studies (e.g., case control studies) were excluded. Information on the study design, intervention and control, and number of patients recruited was extracted by the 2 authors. RESULTS: We identified 14 papers describing 20 different interventions. Effective interventions included: telephone reminders; questionnaire inclusion; monetary incentives; using an 'open' rather than placebo design; and making trial materials culturally sensitive. CONCLUSION: Few trials have been undertaken to test interventions to improve trial recruitment. There is an urgent need for more RCTs of recruitment strategies. BioMed Central 2006-07-19 /pmc/articles/PMC1559709/ /pubmed/16854229 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-6-34 Text en Copyright © 2006 Watson and Torgerson; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Watson, Judith M
Torgerson, David J
Increasing recruitment to randomised trials: a review of randomised controlled trials
title Increasing recruitment to randomised trials: a review of randomised controlled trials
title_full Increasing recruitment to randomised trials: a review of randomised controlled trials
title_fullStr Increasing recruitment to randomised trials: a review of randomised controlled trials
title_full_unstemmed Increasing recruitment to randomised trials: a review of randomised controlled trials
title_short Increasing recruitment to randomised trials: a review of randomised controlled trials
title_sort increasing recruitment to randomised trials: a review of randomised controlled trials
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1559709/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16854229
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-6-34
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