inVentiv Clinical Trial Recruitment Solutions (iCTRS), created to accelerate trials, in collaboration with The Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP) has released the results of research showing public perceptions of clinical trials has improved – good news for companies hoping to recruit for a trial.
The results of the global research conducted by CISCRP were released at a half-day, invitation-only seminar sponsored by iCTRS for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in Princeton, NJ.
The forum, which drew dozens of industry leaders from top life sciences companies, was designed to help sponsor organizations improve volunteers’ experience in clinical trials.
“Since the last assessment of the public’s perception of, and experiences in, clinical trials eight years ago, we’ve seen marked improvements in public perceptions about clinical research and participation,” said CISCRP’s Founder and Board Chair Ken Getz. “The study also identified a number of significant age-related and regional differences in knowledge and perspectives which suggest opportunities to improve public and patient engagement initiatives.”
According to the CISCRP study, the percentage of people who learn of clinical research from family members is almost three times higher in Latin America than in North America. And, patients in the Asia-Pacific region are less than half as likely as patients in North America to continue participating in a clinical research study because they feel obligated to do so.
Jim Kremidas, senior vice president of Patient Recruitment at iCTRS and a member of the CISCRP Board of Advisors, discussed how a better understanding of the patient and caregiver perspective can improve patient recruitment and retention in trials.
“The basis for successfully engaging patients is understanding them,” he maintained. “Through conducting behavioral research, we can gain insights into people’s decision-making processes, motivational drivers and influencers – all of which inform the success of a study’s outreach strategy and communication plan.”
Kremidas presented case studies demonstrating how behavioral science has been used by progressive companies to both speed enrollment and improve patient retention in trials. By relying on behavioral data to guide message development, sponsors and CROs can engage prospective subjects by using the most effective language, content, creative angle, and channels.