Matching Volunteers to Clinical Trials by App
Imogene
June 12, 2016
It takes on average 17 years for clinical breakthroughs in the laboratory to reach patients. A big part of the delay is finding enough patients to take part in clinical trials. Only 5 to 10 percent of eligible adults enroll—and of those who show initial interest, only 5 percent are in it until the end.
A new smartphone app may be a way to boost recruitment.
“A key goal of the research was to improve patient access to medical innovations available through clinical trials,” says Peter Elkin, professor and chair of the biomedical informatics department and professor of medicine at the University at Buffalo. “We’ve developed a cellphone app that allows patients to quickly and easily evaluate clinical trials, the time commitment involved, and the location of the study nearest their home.”
