A systematic review of strategies used to increase recruitment of people with cancer or organ failure into clinical trials: implications for palliative care research

Context. The challenges of palliative care clinical trial recruitment are well documented. Objectives. The aim of the study was to review tested strategies to improve recruitment to trials of people with a range of conditions who may access palliative care services but are not explicitly stated to...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Boland, Jason, Currow, David C., Wilcock, Andrew, Tieman, Jennifer, Hussain, Jamilla Akhter, Pitsillides, Constantine, Abernethy, Amy P., Johnson, Miriam J.
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48272/
_version_ 1848797729209188352
author Boland, Jason
Currow, David C.
Wilcock, Andrew
Tieman, Jennifer
Hussain, Jamilla Akhter
Pitsillides, Constantine
Abernethy, Amy P.
Johnson, Miriam J.
author_facet Boland, Jason
Currow, David C.
Wilcock, Andrew
Tieman, Jennifer
Hussain, Jamilla Akhter
Pitsillides, Constantine
Abernethy, Amy P.
Johnson, Miriam J.
author_sort Boland, Jason
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Context. The challenges of palliative care clinical trial recruitment are well documented. Objectives. The aim of the study was to review tested strategies to improve recruitment to trials of people with a range of conditions who may access palliative care services but are not explicitly stated to be ‘‘palliative.’’ Methods. This was a systematic review with narrative description. The Cochrane, Embase, PubMed, PsycINFO, and CINAHL electronic databases were searched (English; January 2002 to February 2014) for quasi-experimental and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) testing the effect of recruitment strategies on accrual to clinical trials of people with organ failure and cancer. Titles, abstracts, and retrieved articles were screened by two researchers and categorized by recruitment challenge: 1) patients with reduced cognition, 2) those requiring emergency treatment, and 3) willingness of patients and clinical staff to contribute to trials. Results. Of 549 articles identified, 15 were included. Thirteen reported RCTs and two papers reported three quasiexperimental studies. Five were cluster RCTs of recruiting sites/institutions. One was a randomized cluster, crossover, feasibility study. Seven studies recruited patients with cancer. Others included patients with dementia, stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, frail elderly, and bereaved carers. Some interventions improved recruitment: memory aid, contact before arrival, cluster consent, ‘‘opt out’’ consent. Others either reduced recruitment (formal mental capacity assessment) or made no difference (advance research directive; a variety of educational, supportive, and advertising interventions). Conclusion. Successful strategies from other disciplines could be considered by palliative care researchers. Tailored, efficient, evidence-based strategies must be developed, acknowledging that strategies with face validity are not necessarily the most effective.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T20:08:30Z
format Article
id nottingham-48272
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T20:08:30Z
publishDate 2014
publisher Elsevier
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-482722020-05-04T16:58:19Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48272/ A systematic review of strategies used to increase recruitment of people with cancer or organ failure into clinical trials: implications for palliative care research Boland, Jason Currow, David C. Wilcock, Andrew Tieman, Jennifer Hussain, Jamilla Akhter Pitsillides, Constantine Abernethy, Amy P. Johnson, Miriam J. Context. The challenges of palliative care clinical trial recruitment are well documented. Objectives. The aim of the study was to review tested strategies to improve recruitment to trials of people with a range of conditions who may access palliative care services but are not explicitly stated to be ‘‘palliative.’’ Methods. This was a systematic review with narrative description. The Cochrane, Embase, PubMed, PsycINFO, and CINAHL electronic databases were searched (English; January 2002 to February 2014) for quasi-experimental and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) testing the effect of recruitment strategies on accrual to clinical trials of people with organ failure and cancer. Titles, abstracts, and retrieved articles were screened by two researchers and categorized by recruitment challenge: 1) patients with reduced cognition, 2) those requiring emergency treatment, and 3) willingness of patients and clinical staff to contribute to trials. Results. Of 549 articles identified, 15 were included. Thirteen reported RCTs and two papers reported three quasiexperimental studies. Five were cluster RCTs of recruiting sites/institutions. One was a randomized cluster, crossover, feasibility study. Seven studies recruited patients with cancer. Others included patients with dementia, stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, frail elderly, and bereaved carers. Some interventions improved recruitment: memory aid, contact before arrival, cluster consent, ‘‘opt out’’ consent. Others either reduced recruitment (formal mental capacity assessment) or made no difference (advance research directive; a variety of educational, supportive, and advertising interventions). Conclusion. Successful strategies from other disciplines could be considered by palliative care researchers. Tailored, efficient, evidence-based strategies must be developed, acknowledging that strategies with face validity are not necessarily the most effective. Elsevier 2014-12-26 Article PeerReviewed Boland, Jason, Currow, David C., Wilcock, Andrew, Tieman, Jennifer, Hussain, Jamilla Akhter, Pitsillides, Constantine, Abernethy, Amy P. and Johnson, Miriam J. (2014) A systematic review of strategies used to increase recruitment of people with cancer or organ failure into clinical trials: implications for palliative care research. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 49 (4). 762-772.e5. ISSN 1873-6513 Patient selection; clinical trials; disease progression; palliative care; research subject recruitment http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885392414009117 doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2014.09.018 doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2014.09.018
spellingShingle Patient selection; clinical trials; disease progression; palliative care; research subject recruitment
Boland, Jason
Currow, David C.
Wilcock, Andrew
Tieman, Jennifer
Hussain, Jamilla Akhter
Pitsillides, Constantine
Abernethy, Amy P.
Johnson, Miriam J.
A systematic review of strategies used to increase recruitment of people with cancer or organ failure into clinical trials: implications for palliative care research
title A systematic review of strategies used to increase recruitment of people with cancer or organ failure into clinical trials: implications for palliative care research
title_full A systematic review of strategies used to increase recruitment of people with cancer or organ failure into clinical trials: implications for palliative care research
title_fullStr A systematic review of strategies used to increase recruitment of people with cancer or organ failure into clinical trials: implications for palliative care research
title_full_unstemmed A systematic review of strategies used to increase recruitment of people with cancer or organ failure into clinical trials: implications for palliative care research
title_short A systematic review of strategies used to increase recruitment of people with cancer or organ failure into clinical trials: implications for palliative care research
title_sort systematic review of strategies used to increase recruitment of people with cancer or organ failure into clinical trials: implications for palliative care research
topic Patient selection; clinical trials; disease progression; palliative care; research subject recruitment
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48272/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48272/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48272/