The Problem with Online Questionnaires in Clinical Trial Enrollment

Introduction
In the realm of drug discovery, it's crucial for sponsors to ensure that only eligible patients participate in clinical trials. Online pre-screener questionnaires might seem like an efficient tool to filter potential subjects, yet they often become a barrier to initial patient enrollment. The journey from a prospective participant visiting a clinical trial website to becoming excited about joining is fraught with challenges. Dissatisfaction with cumbersome digital forms can significantly hamper enrollment rates, which are vital to the success of clinical studies. We get it -- Sponsors are understandably eager to shield their sites from ineligible patients, but there are better ways to accomplish this...

Technical Barriers and User Experience Issues

A major issue with online questionnaires are technical glitches. These range from poorly designed interfaces to forms that fail to respond well across different devices. A common frustration occurs when participants try to complete forms on mobile devices during commutes. Imagine clicking through a pre-screener on a bus -- that's moving. Unstable internet and non-optimized mobile experiences can prevent participants from completing these forms correctly, if at all. Result = You have just lost another eligible patient.

Moreover, many clinical trial websites fail to prioritize user-friendly navigation, burying crucial eligibility information deep within complex pages or obscured by medical jargon. This not only deteriorates the user experience but also leads to high drop-off rates during the enrollment process.

The Case for Enhanced Web Design in Clinical Trials

To mitigate these issues, clinical trial sponsors must revamp their approach to online patient recruitment. By adopting a more user-centric web design, sponsors can significantly boost patient engagement and enrollment numbers. Clear and accessible eligibility and ineligibility criteria, along with forms optimized for all devices, can minimize entry barriers for potential participants.

Additionally, simplifying the questionnaire process and enhancing mobile website performance are crucial. In today's digital age, many users access information on the go, and a website tailored to this reality is more likely to sustain visitor interaction.

Insight from Trial AMPlify

Trial AMPlify offers expertise in patient recruitment strategies and technology solutions, helping trial sponsors refine pre-screening processes and optimize enrollment strategies. Utilizing tools like heat-map eye tracking and user experience analysis, we can craft intuitive and accessible digital interfaces tailored to the needs of potential clinical trial participants.

Our approach focuses on leveraging technology to streamline the enrollment process, making it more efficient and less cumbersome. This increases the chances of attracting and retaining eligible participants, thereby facilitating the successful completion of clinical trials.

"Sponsors cannot automate their way to identify eligible patients for a clinical study. A well-designed clinical trial website can help subjects understand their eligibility requirements and spare sites from having to perform too much pre-screening. Better to get patients to raise their hand, tell you who they are, and excuse the one's who don't match the trial eligibility, then to lose 72% of web traffic and not be able to fill your trial."