People with diabetes who take part in clinical research prefer to do so from home rather than coming to the hospital. This was shown in a study by UMC Utrecht. A total of 787 people with type 2 diabetes across three countries were asked about their preferences. The conclusion: a trial offering a safe treatment, short duration, no travel time, and video contact is most appealing to participants.
The results of this study provide valuable insights for designing future trials,” says Mira Zuidgeest, project lead of Trials@Home and researcher at UMC Utrecht. “The willingness to participate in clinical research could increase from 56% to 89% if studies were designed to be more home-based. That’s a significant outcome, as finding enough and diverse participants is one of the major challenges in clinical research. Trials that reduce or even eliminate hospital visits could lower the barrier to participation.”
A total of 787 people with type 2 diabetes from the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany completed a detailed questionnaire. They were repeatedly presented with two hypothetical clinical trials and asked which one they would prefer to join — or neither. The trials varied on aspects such as the location and mode of contact with the research team, the tasks participants had to perform themselves (e.g., simple measurements), the use of digital technology, study duration, number of contact moments, and how much was already known about the safety and effectiveness of the treatment.
Julia Kopanz, researcher at UMC Utrecht: “The degree to which the safety and effectiveness of the medication was known turned out to be the most important factor in deciding to participate — in all three countries. Study duration, location, type of contact with the research team, and number of touchpoints were also important. Expected participation varied by country. A study with video contact, lasting one year, and with a well-known safe medication was most preferred. In the Netherlands, 89% of participants said they would join such a study, compared to 99% in Austria and 84% in Germany.”
In addition to people preferring to participate in research from home, this finding is also important for making clinical research more future-proof. By using technology to collect data at home, we can conduct clinical trials with fewer visits, while still gathering more — and higher-quality — data on the progression of disease. This helps keep research affordable and makes the results more applicable to real-world practice.
This study was conducted as part of the European research program Trials@Home, in which partners from academia, healthcare, government, and industry work together to develop better and more inclusive ways of conducting clinical research.
