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. 2017 Mar;48(3):799-801.
doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.116.014458. Epub 2017 Jan 19.

Trends in Recruitment Rates for Acute Stroke Trials, 1990-2014

William B Feldman  1 , Anthony S Kim  2 , Winston Chiong  2
Affiliations

Trends in Recruitment Rates for Acute Stroke Trials, 1990-2014

William B Feldman et al. Stroke. 2017 Mar.

Abstract

Background and purpose: Slow recruitment in acute stroke trials hampers the evaluation of new therapies and delays the adoption of effective therapies into clinical practice. This systematic review evaluates whether recruitment efficiency and rates have increased in acute stroke trials from 1990 to 2014.

Methods: Acute stroke trials from 2010 to 2014 were identified by a search of PubMed, Medline, the Cochrane Database of Research in Stroke, and the Stroke Trials Registry. These trials were compared to a previously published data set of trials conducted from 1990 to 2004.

Results: The median recruitment efficiency of trials from 1990 to 2004 was 0.41 participants/site/month compared with 0.26 participants/site/month from 2010 to 2014 (P=0.14). The median recruitment rate of trials from 1990 to 2004 was 26.8 participants/month compared with 19.0 participants/month from 2010 to 2014 (P=0.13).

Conclusions: For acute stroke trials, neither recruitment efficiency nor recruitment rates have increased over the past 25 years and, if anything, have declined.

Keywords: acute stroke trials; recruitment efficiency; recruitment rate; stroke.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Recruitment efficiency of acute stroke trials by publication year (1990–2014)
The area of individual markers is proportional to the number of participants per trial. URICO-ICTUS: Safety and efficacy of uric acid in patients with acute stroke.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Recruitment rate of acute stroke trials by publication year (1990–2014)
The area of individual markers is proportional to the number of participants per trial.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

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