Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37014975›Full record

ArticleFamily practice2023

Recruiting general practitioners and older patients with multimorbidity to randomized trials.

Caroline McCarthy, Ivana Pericin, Susan M Smith, Frank Moriarty, Barbara Clyne

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In one paragraph

Article in Family practice, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Caroline McCarthyHRB Centre for Primary Care Research, Department of General Practice, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin 2, Ireland.ORCID 0000-0002-2986-5994
Ivana PericinSchool of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Susan M SmithHRB Centre for Primary Care Research, Department of General Practice, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin 2, Ireland.ORCID 0000-0001-6027-2727
Frank MoriartyHRB Centre for Primary Care Research, Department of General Practice, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin 2, Ireland.ORCID 0000-0001-9838-3625
Barbara ClyneHRB Centre for Primary Care Research, Department of General Practice, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin 2, Ireland.ORCID 0000-0002-1186-9495

Funding

Health Research Board
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOlder patients with multimorbidity are under-represented in experimental research.

objectiveTo explore the barriers and facilitators to general practitioner (GP) and older patient recruitment and retention in a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT).

methodThis descriptive study uses qualitative and quantitative data from a cluster RCT, designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a medicines optimization intervention. The SPPiRE cluster RCT enrolled 51 general practices and 404 patients aged ≥65 years and prescribed ≥15 medicines. Quantitative data were collected from all recruited practices and 32 additional practices who were enrolled, but unable to recruit sufficient participants. Qualitative data were collected from purposive samples of intervention GPs (18/26), patients (27/208), and researcher logs and analysed thematically using inductive coding.

resultsEnrolment rates for practices and patients were 37% and 25%, respectively. Barriers to GP recruitment were lack of resources and to patient recruitment were difficulty understanding trial material and concern about medicines being taken away. GPs' primary motivation was perceived importance of the research question, whereas patients' primary motivation was trust in their GP. All general practices were retained. Thirty-five patients (8.6%) were lost to follow-up for primary outcomes, mainly because they had died and 45% did not return patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).

conclusionPatient retention for the primary outcome was high, as it was collected directly from patient records. Patient completion of PROM data was poor, reflecting difficulty in understanding trial material. Recruiting older patients with multimorbidity to clinical trials is possible but requires significant resource and planning.

trial registrationISRCTN Registry ISRCTN12752680.

Indexed as

General PracticeGeneral PractitionersHumansMultimorbidityPatient SelectionRandomized Controlled Trials as Topicmultimorbiditypolypharmacyprocess evaluationrandomized controlled trialresearch design

Identifiers

PMID37014975
PMCPMC10745264

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.