"Recruitment, Recruitment, Recruitment"-The Need for More Focus on Retention: A Qualitative Study of Five Trials

Trial managers and other staff from five active United Kingdom-based randomized clinical trials were interviewed to explore retention strategies and factors that influence which retention strategies the team chose to adopt. (Dementia was the clinical topic of one of the five trials.) The study authors reported that the role of trial staff and their underlying behaviors influence the practices of the team members responsible for retention, and that institutional emphasis on recruitment can constrain retention efforts. They concluded that there is a need to consider how to train and support trial staff involved in retention practices and for funding bodies and oversight organizations to better recognize retention issues.

Daykin A, Clement C, Gamble C, et al. 'Recruitment, recruitment, recruitment' — The need for more focus on retention: A qualitative study of five trials. Trials 2018;19(1):76.