Opportunities and challenges to delivering a trial for depressive symptoms in primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic: insights from the Alpha-Stim-D randomised controlled trial
Our findings suggest that trial processes can influence recruitment; therefore, consideration and a regular review of the recruitment figures and strategies is important. Recruitment of participants can be maximised by utilising remote approaches, which reduce the burden and amount of time required by referring sites and allow the research team to reach more participants whilst providing participants and researchers with more flexibility. Effectively communicating and working collaboratively with key stakeholders throughout the trial process, as well as building rapport with participants, may also improve recruitment rates.
Authors
- Azhar Zafar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4344-3915)
- Chris Griffiths (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6377-907X)
- Joe Kai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9040-9384)
- Boliang Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1844-705X)
- Vibhore Prasad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5470-276X)
- Neil Nixon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7880-0118)
- C. Boutry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6781-2201)
- Deborah Butler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8469-4673)
- Richard Morriss (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2910-4121)
- Paul M. Briley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5372-6505)
- Kapil Sayal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2050-4316)
- Shireen Patel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5537-0717)
- Fred Higton
- Rebecca McNaughton
- Priya Patel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8203-8234)
- David Smart
Institutions
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- King's College London (GB)
- Nottinghamshire County Council (GB)
- Leicester General Hospital (GB)
- Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- University of Northampton (GB)
- Institute of Mental Health (GB)
- East Midlands Academic Health Science Network (GB)
- NIHR MindTech MedTech Co-operative (GB)
- Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (GB)
- NIHR Research Delivery Network (GB)
- University of Buckingham (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Trials
- Published
- 2025-02-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-025-08772-3
- Primary Topic
- COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research