• Family practice · Apr 2016

    Randomized Controlled Trial

    Feasibility and acceptability of TRANSFoRm to improve clinical trial recruitment in primary care.

    • Nikolaos Mastellos, Grzegorz Bliźniuk, Dorota Czopnik, Mark McGilchrist, Andrzej Misiaszek, Piotr Bródka, Vasa Curcin, Josip Car, Brendan C Delaney, and Anna Andreasson.
    • Global eHealth Unit, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK, n.mastellos@imperial.ac.uk.
    • Fam Pract. 2016 Apr 1; 33 (2): 186-91.

    BackgroundRecruitment of study participants is a challenging process for health professionals and patients. The Translational Medicine and Patient Safety in Europe (TRANSFoRm) clinical trial tools enable automated identification, recruitment and follow-up in clinical trials, potentially saving time, effort and costs for all parties involved.ObjectivesThis study evaluates the acceptability and feasibility of TRANSFoRm to improve clinical trial recruitment in primary care.MethodsA feasibility study was conducted in three general practices in Poland. Participants were physicians and patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. Semi-structured interviews were held to obtain feedback about the usefulness, ease of use and overall experience with the TRANSFoRm tools and to identify potential usability issues. Data were analysed thematically.ResultsA total of 5 physicians and 10 patients participated in the study. Physicians were satisfied with the usefulness of the system, as it enabled easier and faster identification, recruitment and follow-up of patients compared with existing methods. Patients found the TRANSFoRm apps easy to use to report patient outcomes. However, they also felt that the apps may not be useful for patients with limited exposure to smartphone and web technologies. Two main usability issues were identified: physicians could not access the result of the randomization at the end of each visit, and participants could not locate the follow-up reminder email.ConclusionsThis study provides new evidence on the acceptability and feasibility of TRANSFoRm to enable automated identification, recruitment and follow-up of study participants in primary care trials. It also helps to better understand and address users' requirements in eHealth-supported clinical research.© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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