One of the most difficult aspects in clinical research is finding and recruiting trial volunteers. Healthcare, the pharmaceutical, medical and clinical sector can easily recognize this challenge as all of them have faced it in one way or another. Since the obstacles are pretty clear, the research industry tries to tackle them in the most effective ways. Online recruitment, social media and other Internet-based platforms are placed among some of the most frequently used tools for patient enrollment. Of course, there are upcoming trends that are less known among research communities. And yet, they are claimed to be just as useful as many traditional strategies. One such approach is gamification of clinical trials.
A few statistics, numbers and findings…
Reportedly, about 80% of studies nowadays have it difficult to follow their recruitment timelines. What’s even more dramatic, 30% are struggling to enlist even a single clinical trial participant. Quite so often that results in delayed drug development which costs companies from $600,000 to $8 million per day. The situation gets a bit more problematic when the progress of a trial is hindered due to a huge number of withdrawals – from 15 to 40%. Some of the primary reasons that cause such dropouts include health concerns, not feeling comfortable with the possible side effects, traveling costs, etc. Then, there are those who terminate their participation because they have lost their interest and no longer find the research engaging enough. To deal with and avoid such unexpected turn of events, industry specialists choose methods that increase patients’ engagement. Like gamification. And what’s more engaging than game-like tactics?
Essentially, gamification is defined as the process of adopting game-driven design features and game-driven design methods to find solutions to non-game issues. Games and gamification in clinical trials is primarily used to enhance performance, encourage enrollment, reduce dropout levels, promote engagement and deliver more interactive and fun experience to participants. Recruiters are enabled to collect important data and drug- or treatment-related information more easily with the help of game design techniques as well.
What is interesting is that gamification methods, to some extent, are used to target younger audience and group of people. Like children, for example. Some game-resembling clinical trial apps, such as Pain Squad for instance, are said to be much more useful than traditionally used perspectives. Using gamification tools, companies can develop gaming platforms that educate children, help them understand the clinical trial process they are going through, explain in a much more digestible or interactive way the benefits of participating and much more.
Potential research aspects that can be boosted through gamification
Results of a recent survey indicated that using interactive media and other similar tools helps patients better understand research procedures, study risks, trial purposes and other significant aspects of one such project. In many ways, then, game design techniques improve patient recruitment, engagement, retention and education. But there are other areas which are also boosted through gamification. They include:
- Site training
- Improving the effectiveness of investigators
- Trial management and return on investments
In summary, gamification in clinical trials is understood more like an evolution, rather than a revolutionary method. Still, the important thing here is how effective such tactics are. Do they deliver better results than conventional techniques? Do they contribute to these conventional techniques? Do they make a difference? The answer is yes. Respectively, gamification encourages behavioral change, improves patients’ participation and engagement and promotes collaboration as well as interaction. And that, on the whole, help recruiters enroll more trial participants and keep them in.
You can find a PDF version of this article here: https://crotraining.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gamification-of-Clinical-Trials.pdf
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