Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40613224›Full record

ArticleClinical trials (London, England)2025

Standardising management of consent withdrawal and other clinical trial participation changes: The UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Unit Network's PeRSEVERE project.

William J Cragg, Laura Clifton-Hadley, Jeremy Dearling, Susan J Dutton, Katie Gillies, Pollyanna Hardy, Daniel Hind, Søren Holm, Kerenza Hood, Anna Kearney and 10 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical trials (London, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

20 authors.

William J CraggClinical Trials Research Unit, Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1274-8521
Laura Clifton-HadleyCancer Research UK and University College London Cancer Trials Centre, University College London, London, UK.
Jeremy DearlingPatient Contributor, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1007-1895
Susan J DuttonOxford Clinical Trials Research Unit and Centre for Statistics in Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Katie GilliesHealth Services Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7890-2854
Pollyanna HardyNational Perinatal Epidemiology Unit and Clinical Trials Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Daniel HindSchool of Healthcare, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6409-4793
Søren HolmThe University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7200-5607
Kerenza HoodCentre for Trials Research, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
Anna KearneyDepartment of Health Data Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Rebecca LewisClinical Trials and Statistics Unit, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK.
Sarah MarkhamKing's College London, London, UK.
Lauren MoreauClinical Trials Research Unit, Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Tra My PhamMedical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-0528-6303
Amanda RobertsPatient Contributor, UK.
Sharon RuddockClinical Trials Research Unit, Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Mirjana SirovicaLiverpool Clinical Trials Centre, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Ratna SohanpalCentre for Primary Care, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Puvan TharmanathanDepartment of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of York, York, UK.
Rejina VerghisWellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-8322-213X

Funding

Cancer Research UK A24929Medical Research Council MC_UU_00004/07
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

aimsExisting regulatory and ethical guidance does not address real-life complexities in how clinical trial participants' level of participation may change. If these complexities are inappropriately managed, there may be negative consequences for trial participants and the integrity of trials they participate in. These concerns have been highlighted over many years, but there remains no single, comprehensive guidance for managing participation changes in ways that address real-life complexities while maximally promoting participant interests and trial integrity. Motivated by the lack of agreed standards, and observed variability in practice, representatives from academic clinical trials units and linked organisations in the United Kingdom initiated the PeRSEVERE project (PRincipleS for handling end-of-participation EVEnts in clinical trials REsearch) to agree on guiding principles and explore how these principles should be implemented.

methodsWe developed the PeRSEVERE principles through discussion and debate within a large, multidisciplinary collaboration, including research professionals and public contributors. We took an inclusive approach to drafting the principles, incorporating new ideas if they were within project scope. Our draft principles were scrutinised through an international consultation survey which focussed on the principles' clarity, feasibility, novelty and acceptability. Survey responses were analysed descriptively (for category questions) and using a combination of deductive and inductive analysis (for open questions). We used predefined rules to guide feedback handling. After finalising the principles, we developed accompanying implementation guidance from several sources.

resultsIn total, 280 people from 9 countries took part in the consultation survey. Feedback showed strong support for the principles with 96% of respondents agreeing with the principles' key messages. Based on our predefined rules, it was not necessary to amend our draft principles, but comments were nonetheless used to enhance the final project outputs. Our 17 finalised principles comprise 7 fundamental, 'overarching' principles, 6 about trial design and setup, 2 covering data collection and monitoring, and 2 on trial analysis and reporting.

conclusionWe devised a comprehensive set of guiding principles, with detailed practical recommendations, to aid the management of clinical trial participation changes, building on existing ethical and regulatory texts. Our outputs reflect the contributions of a substantial number of individuals, including public contributors and research professionals with various specialisms. This lends weight to our recommendations, which have implications for everyone who designs, funds, conducts, oversees or participates in trials. We suggest our principles could lead to improved standards in clinical trials and better experiences for participants. We encourage others to build on our work to explore the application of these ideas in other settings and to generate empirical evidence to support best practice in this area.

Indexed as

Clinical Trials as TopicInformed ConsentPatient ParticipationResearch DesignAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPractice Guidelines as TopicSurveys and QuestionnairesUnited KingdomattritionInformed consentparticipation changesretentionwithdrawal

Identifiers

PMID40613224
PMCPMC12476473

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.