Not too long ago, online communities became a popular alternative to the low volume of referrals and inaccuracy of traditional media. These communities began as central hubs where patients gathered online to discuss their illness and seek knowledge or support.<\/p>\n
As the industry came to realize the powerful capabilities of these communities, pharmaceutical companies quickly began building their own online centers\u00a0in hopes of building a large, mineable database for their own clinical trial recruitment projects. These databases take years to build, but can evolve into very large and powerful information centers.<\/p>\n
Although these databases\u00a0have brought enormous advantages to clinical trial recruitment, there are severe limitations to this\u00a0strategy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
3 Limitations of Databases for Patient Recruitment<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1. Demographics Grow Out-of-Date<\/b><\/p>\n Certain demographic data are reliable and permanent, for example birth date or race. However, a significant portion of demographic data can grow out-of-date very quickly and result in inaccurate referrals by the time the data are used to recruit for a trial. Individuals may no longer have the time or ability to commit to the protocol requirements, or they may no longer meet the required criteria.
\nSome examples of soon-to-be-outdated demographic characteristics include:<\/p>\n