Document Detail


Desktop software to identify patients eligible for recruitment into a clinical trial: using SARMA to recruit to the ROAD feasibility trial.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20429978     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
BACKGROUND: Recruitment to trials in primary care is often difficult, particularly when practice staff need to identify study participants with acute conditions during consultations. The Scottish Acute Recruitment Management Application (SARMA) system is linked to general practice electronic medical record (EMR) systems and is designed to provide recruitment support to multi-centre trials by screening patients against trial inclusion criteria and alerting practice staff if the patient appears eligible. For patients willing to learn more about the trial, the software allows practice staff to send the patient's contact details to the research team by text message. AIM: To evaluate the ability of the software to support trial recruitment. DESIGN OF STUDY: Software evaluation embedded in a randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Five general practices in Tayside and Fife, Scotland. METHODS: SARMA was used to support recruitment to a feasibility trial (the Response to Oral Agents in Diabetes, or ROAD trial) looking at users of oral therapy in diabetes. The technical performance of the software and its utility as a recruitment tool were evaluated. RESULTS: The software was successfully installed at four of the five general practices and recruited 11 of the 29 participants for ROAD (other methods were letter and direct invitation by a practice nurse) and had a recruitment return of 35% (11 of 31 texts sent led to a recruitment). Screen failures were relatively low (7 of 31 referred). Practice staff members were positive about the system. CONCLUSION: An automated recruitment tool can support primary care trials in Scotland and has the potential to support recruitment in other jurisdictions. It offers a low-cost supplement to other trial recruitment methods and is likely to have a much lower screen failure rate than blanket approaches such as mailshots and newspaper campaigns.
Authors:
Shaun Treweek; Ewan Pearson; Natalie Smith; Ron Neville; Paul Sargeant; Brian Boswell; Frank Sullivan
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Multicenter Study; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Informatics in primary care     Volume:  18     ISSN:  1476-0320     ISO Abbreviation:  Inform Prim Care     Publication Date:  2010  
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-04-30     Completed Date:  2010-06-15     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  101150138     Medline TA:  Inform Prim Care     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  51-8     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Clinical and Population Sciences and Education, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK. s.treweek@cpse.dundee.ac.uk
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Confidentiality
Humans
Microcomputers*
Patient Selection*
Physician's Role
Primary Health Care*
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / methods*
Software*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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