Recruitment to multicentre trials—lessons from UKCTOCS: descriptive study
2008

Successful Recruitment Strategies for Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial

Sample size: 202638 publication Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): Usha Menon, Alexandra Gentry-Maharaj, Andy Ryan, Aarti Sharma, Matthew Burnell, Rachel Hallett, Sara Lewis, Alberto Lopez, Keith Godfrey, David Oram, Jonathan Herod, Karin Williamson, Mourad Seif, Ian Scott, Tim Mould, Robert Woolas, John Murdoch, Stephen Dobbs, Nazar Amso, Simon Leeson, Derek Cruickshank, Ali McGuire, Stuart Campbell, Lesley Fallowfield, Steve Skates, Mahesh Parmar, Ian Jacobs

Primary Institution: UCL EGA Institute for Women’s Health

Hypothesis

What factors contribute to successful recruitment in large multicentre trials?

Conclusion

Effective planning and management are crucial for successful recruitment in large trials.

Supporting Evidence

  • Over 1.2 million women were invited to participate in the trial.
  • 23.2% of invited women expressed interest in participating.
  • 73.6% of those who received appointments attended for recruitment.
  • The trial was conducted across 13 NHS trusts in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
  • Recruitment was completed in 4.3 years.

Takeaway

This study shows that getting enough people to join a medical trial is really important, and having a good plan helps a lot.

Methodology

Descriptive study involving recruitment of postmenopausal women aged 50-74 across 13 NHS trusts.

Potential Biases

Potential bias due to varying acceptance rates across different regions.

Limitations

The study's population may not fully represent the UK as some regions could not participate.

Participant Demographics

Postmenopausal women aged 50-74.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1136/bmj.a2079

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