PILOTING A CENTRALISED STUDY RECRUITMENT MODEL UTILISING JOIN DEMENTIA RESEARCH

Recruitment of participants into dementia studies is challenging. Typically recruitment for an 18 month drug trial takes 18 months or more, doubling the amount of time it takes to test for efficacy. Join Dementia Research is a UK-wide service developed by the National Institute for Health Research to support recruitment to studies. This service is usually driven by individual researchers and sites, and whilst successful the service is not fully utilised. Between July 2016 and January 2018, we piloted a new mechanism of centralised study recruitment to a commercial drug trial, which required people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), using Join Dementia Research (study A) and compared recruitment data with similar study, with direct site utilisation of the same service, and access to the same volunteers (study B). The service was run at an additional cost to the usual service, which is free to researchers and funded by the UK government. The service supporting recruitment to study a, was delivered by two research nurses worked remotely and flexibly around day to day life, concentrating on working times when people with MCI were most likely available. For study A, 2620 people were screened and 141 referred to 11 sites. 63 volunteers consented and 23 enrolled. For study B, 1223 people were screened, by one of 10 sites. 16 volunteers were consented and 6 enrolled. Through the centralised service we delivered a screen fail rate of 64.5%, compared to over 75% for recruitment from other sources, and provided 31.9% of total study recruitment. The cost per enrolment was £8,535 which is a saving of £2,396 on national average. Additionally the study recruited ahead of target, which contributed to a further cost saving – and importantly ensured that the potential treatment could reach patients sooner. This pilot successfully demonstrated that a centralised, dedicated recruitment model improves the reliability of Join Dementia Research, saves time and money and enables recruitment objectives to be achieved. This improved service does come at a cost, but this should be considered against the benefits. Additionally UK researchers should consider this alternate model to use Join Dementia Research.