Trial delays tied to high drop-out rates; outreach boosts participation.(Recruitment)

ELLICOTT CITY, MD -- Seventy-two percent of clinical trials were delayed in 2003, a significant reason being a 73% drop-out rate for human research subjects participating in Phase I-IV clinical trials, said Roni Thaler, president and CEO, Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP), at an ACRP meeting here May 13.

Thaler said these problems are tied directly to findings in her center's recent public survey, which found that 74% of respondents have no real knowledge of the clinical research process, and 98% didn't know where and how to identify and evaluate appropriate clinical studies. Yet, 77% of people said that they would consider …