On Tuesday 10 June at 14.00, Anne Poder Petersen defends her PhD dissertation entitled "A need-supportive intervention to increase trial retention".

Retaining participants in clinical studies is a well-known challenge. When participants drop out or fail to submit data, it can compromise the reliability of the results. This increases the risk of clinical practice decisions being made on an uncertain basis, potentially resulting in patients not receiving the best possible care and treatment. Therefore, it is crucial to work systematically to retain participants and ensure valid data, so that decisions in the healthcare system can be based on solid evidence.

The PhD project specifically investigated how to increase the retention of participants in a clinical study of a new treatment for grass pollen allergy and ensure that participants continuously submit their data. The project was based on existing research and theories within behaviour change, with an emphasis on translating this knowledge into practice. At the same time, patients with grass pollen allergy were actively involved in the research process to tailor the efforts to their actual needs and wishes.

The results will be presented at the PhD defence, where it will be discussed, among other things, whether the most commonly used strategy—financial compensation—is indeed the most effective and appropriate method for retaining participants in clinical studies.

The summary is written by the PhD student.

The defence is public and takes place in auditorium J116-113, Entrance J, J110, Aarhus University Hospital. Please see the press release for more information. 

Contact

PhD student Anne Poder Petersen 
Mail: annpodpe@clin.au.dk  
Phone: (+45) 22736718

Read full press release