New compensation guidelines improve study recruitment
In 2022, CHDR and other early phase CROs in the Netherlands drew up new guidelines on compensation for participants in early phase drug development. In particular, these guidelines adjust the level of compensation to better reflect the actual burden on the study subject. The Recruitment department is already seeing positive effects on the recruitment of participants.
‘When deciding how much compensation a trial participant should get for a particular study, we go by a set of national guidelines,’ says Dr Rob Zuiker, Associate Director. ‘Every few years, together with the two other Dutch CROs who conduct early phase clinical drug trials, we make a proposal to update the guidelines. This proposal is reviewed by the medical research ethics committee that assesses most early phase drug studies in the Netherlands.’
In 2022, a new proposal was agreed on. ‘The last time the guidelines were revised was in 2019 — so, before the COVID-19 pandemic,’ says Zuiker. ‘This time, apart from adjusting for inflation, we also looked closely at the balance between compensation for attendance and compensation for activities. It’s important that participants are compensated for each time they have to attend the Clinical Research Unit. Meanwhile, participants should also get extra compensation if the testing they have to undergo at the unit is particularly intensive, as it is in some of our studies using the NeuroCart® CNS test battery. In the new guidelines, we’ve improved the balance between these two factors.’
Improvements in recruitment
CHDR’s recruiters noticed the effect of the new agreement immediately. ‘Since the pandemic, it had been more challenging to find enough volunteers,’ says Afke Mevius, Recruitment and Screening Manager. ‘But from the moment we introduced the new compensation rates, things started to pick up.’
An increase in compensation was clearly needed in the current economic situation. ‘On the other hand, we don’t want individual participants to be tempted to join too many studies,’ says Zuiker. ‘It would be both an ethical and a methodological problem if people started becoming “professional” study subjects. Therefore, individuals are limited to participating in studies a maximum of three times per year within Europe. What’s more, there should be a break of at least three months between consecutive studies. All European CROs keep records, so we can draw on an independent database to enforce these rules.’
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