Factors affecting recruitment to an observational multicentre palliative care study

Area of Science:

• Palliative Care Research
• Clinical Trial Recruitment

Background:

• Palliative care studies require effective patient accrual for robust data.
• Understanding recruitment barriers is essential for improving research participation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors negatively impacting patient recruitment in a large, multicenter palliative care study.
• To analyze patient flow and pinpoint reasons for recruitment failure.

Main Methods:

• Monitored patient accrual at eligibility, accessibility, and consent stages.
• Recorded reasons for ineligibility, inaccessibility, and consent refusal.
• Screened 12,412 referrals, assessing 7,018 patients for participation.

Main Results:

• 43% of screened patients were ineligible.
• 66% of eligible patients were inaccessible due to factors like rapid death or clinical 'gatekeeping'.
• 57% of approached patients declined participation, resulting in an overall 8.2% recruitment rate.

Conclusions:

• Systematic monitoring of patient flow through the recruitment process offers valuable insights.
• Analyzing barriers to recruitment can inform strategies to improve participation in future palliative care trials.