ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2023
Establishing Requirements for Technology to Support Clinical Trial Retention: Systematic Scoping Review and Analysis Using Self-determination Theory.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Historically Marginalized Populations in Colorectal Cancer Trials: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Using Systematic Review Methods.Journal of gastrointestinal cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Retention in theBMJ global health · 2025Trial
- Increasing Retention in a Trial by Supporting Basic Psychological Needs for Autonomy, Competence and Relatedness: Developing a Theory-Informed App-Based Complex Intervention.Scandinavian journal of caring sciences · 2026Article
- Experience of older adults using smart devices and mHealth apps for proactive health: a descriptive qualitative study based on the technology acceptance model.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Adaptation of Clinical Research Staff to Decentralized Clinical Trials and Impacts on the Patient-Centered Experience: Qualitative Interview Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Exploring the participant experience in controlled human infection model (CHIM) trials: A modified grounded theory study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Comparison on self-determination, peer-relationship, and alienation in physical education of early adolescent in Korea and China.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Leveraging oncology collaborative networks and biomedical informatics data resources to rapidly recruit and enroll rural residents into oncology quality of life clinical trials.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2024Article
- Recruitment and retention of clinical trial participants: understanding motivations of patients with chronic pain and other populations.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRetaining participants in clinical trials is an established challenge. Currently, the industry is moving to a technology-mediated, decentralized model for running trials. The shift presents an opportunity for technology design to aid the participant experience and promote retention; however, there are many open questions regarding how this can be best supported. We advocate the adoption of a stronger theoretical position to improve the quality of design decisions for clinical trial technology to promote participant engagement.
objectiveThis study aimed to identify and analyze the types of retention strategies used in published clinical trials that successfully retain participants.
methodsA systematic scoping review was carried out on 6 electronic databases for articles published from 1990 to September 2020, namely CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, EBSCO, Embase, PsycINFO, and PubMed, using the concepts "retention," "strategy," "clinal trial," and "clinical research." This was followed by an analysis of the included articles through the lens of self-determination theory, an evidence-based theory of human motivation.
resultsA total of 26 articles were included in this review. The motivational strategies identified in the clinical trials in our sample were categorized into 8 themes: autonomy; competence; relatedness; controlled motivation; branding, communication material, and marketing literature; contact, tracking, and scheduling methods and data collection; convenience to contribute to data collection; and organizational competence. The trials used a wide range of motivational strategies. Notably, the trials often relied on controlled motivation interventions and underused strategies to support intrinsic motivation. Moreover, traditional clinical trials relied heavily on human interaction and "relatedness" to support motivation and retention, which may cause problems in the move to technology-led decentralized trials. We found inconsistency in the data-reporting methods and that motivational theory-based approaches were not evident in strategy design.
conclusionsThis study offers direction and a framework to guide digital technology design decisions for future decentralized clinical trials to enhance participant retention during clinical trials. This research defines previous clinical trial retention strategies in terms of participant motivation, identifies motivational strategies, and offers a rationale for selecting strategies that will improve retention. It emphasizes the benefits of using theoretical frameworks to analyze strategic approaches and aid decision-making to improve the quality of technology design decisions.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.