Background: Patient recruitment to trials is problematic; many fail to achieve targets, leaving them underpowered and unable to address their hypothesis. Few solutions have been identified in existing literature. This thesis aimed to: identify factors associated with recruitment; and understand clinicians’ experiences of recruiting patients to a primary care based randomised controlled trial (RCT). This was explored using The Birmingham Atrial Fibrillation Treatment of the Aged (BAFTA) trial as a case study. Methods: Mixed methods were used: a systematic review to identify factors influencing recruitment to primary care based RCTs; quantitative analysis of BAFTA data to identify factors associated with recruitment; and qualitative interviews with General Practitioners involved with BAFTA, to understand their experience of participation. Results: Existing literature demonstrated that influences on recruitment include: study workload; study question; concerns about patients. Recommendations to address these issues are not based on strong empirical evidence. BAFTA identified factors associated with patient recruitment (practice size; GP age; recruitment year); and patterns over time. Interviews identified differences in attitude between high and low recruiters, including risk perception and motivation. Conclusions: This thesis demonstrates how practitioners can influence patient recruitment. Revised recruitment methods need testing in prospective trials.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:556903 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Fletcher, Kate Elizabeth |
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3519/ |
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