Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2023 Jun;5(6):100861.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2023.100861. Epub 2023 Jan 17.

Outcomes of shared institutional review board compared with multiple individual site institutional review board models in a multisite clinical trial

Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Outcomes of shared institutional review board compared with multiple individual site institutional review board models in a multisite clinical trial

Samantha L Martin et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Institutional review boards play a crucial role in initiating clinical trials. Although many multicenter clinical trials use an individual institutional review board model, where each institution uses their local institutional review board, it is unknown if a shared (single institutional review board) model would reduce the time required to approve a standard institutional review board protocol.

Objective: This study aimed to compare processing times and other processing characteristics between sites using a single institutional review board model and those using their individual site institutional review board model in a multicenter clinical trial.

Study design: This was a retrospective study of sites in an open-label, multicenter randomized control trial from 2014 to 2021. Participating sites in the multicenter Chronic Hypertension and Pregnancy trial were asked to complete a survey collecting data describing their institutional review board approval process.

Results: A total of 45 sites participated in the survey (7 used a shared institutional review board model and 38 used their individual institutional review board model). Most sites (86%) using the shared institutional review board model did not require a full-board institutional review board meeting before protocol approval, compared with 1 site (3%) using the individual institutional review board model (P<.001). Median total approval times (41 vs 56 days; P=.42), numbers of submission rounds (1 vs 2; P=.09), and numbers of institutional review board stipulations (1 vs 4; P=.12) were lower for the group using the shared institutional review board model than those using the individual site institutional review board model; however, these differences were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: The findings supported the hypothesis that the shared institutional review board model for multicenter studies may be more efficient in terms of cumulative time and effort required to obtain approval of an institutional review board protocol than the individual institutional review board model. Given that these data have important implications for multicenter clinical trials, future research should evaluate these findings using larger or multiple multicenter trials.

Keywords: Chronic Hypertension and Pregnancy trial; federal regulations; institutional review board efficiency; institutional review boards; multicenter studies.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

References

    1. United States Congress. “45 CFR 46.” Department of Health and Human Services https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy#46.104
    1. Burns KE, Prats CJ, Maione M, et al. The Experience of Surrogate Decision Makers on Being Approached for Consent for Patient Participation in Research. A Multicenter Study. Ann Am Thorac Soc Feb 2017;14(2):238–245. doi:10.1513/AnnalsATS.201606-425OC - DOI - PubMed
    1. Group TS. The Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) study: a multicenter study of diabetes in managed care. Diabetes Care Feb 2002;25(2):386–9. doi:10.2337/diacare.25.2.386 - DOI - PubMed
    1. DATATOP: a multicenter controlled clinical trial in early Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson Study Group. Arch Neurol Oct 1989;46(10):1052–60. doi:10.1001/archneur.1989.00520460028009 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Svetkey LP, Sacks FM, Obarzanek E, et al. The DASH Diet, Sodium Intake and Blood Pressure Trial (DASH-sodium): rationale and design. DASH-Sodium Collaborative Research Group. J Am Diet Assoc Aug 1999;99(8 Suppl):S96–104. doi:10.1016/s0002-8223(99)00423-x - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources