Leveling Up Clinical Studies: How Gamification is Redefining the Participant Experience

Clinical trials and registry studies have been driving medical progress for years. Despite the widespread benefits we derive from their results, many studies struggle with participant retention. According to the Association of Clinical Research Professionals, the average dropout rate across all clinical trials is 30%.1 High dropout and attrition rates translate to slower development of life-saving treatments—a frustrating reality for participants and researchers alike.

Technology providers and CROs must ensure data collection minimizes inconvenience while maximizing patient engagement to keep participants engaged.2 Advanced software is now taking a gamified approach to achieve this.

Benefits of Gamification
Gamification refers to the application of game design elements in non-game contexts and has worked its way into many of our commonly known health devices and applications in the past few years. The strategy is now expanding further to address issues in retention for participant registries, HEOR studies, Post Market Projects, and DCT Phase I-III studies. By incorporating elements like quizzes, milestones, and eDiaries, gamification is helping enhance participant engagement and adherence to trial protocols. The main benefits of gamification in clinical studies include:

  • Improved participant engagement
  • Increased recruitment and retention rates
  • Robust datasets
  • Expedited study completion

Gamified interventions can promote medication adherence and completion of scheduled procedures, enhancing the overall quality of the real-world evidence (RWE). Researchers gain valuable insights into participant behavior and preferences as they engage with these tools, helping inform future trial design and optimization strategies.

In addition to creating an engaging participant experience, The Trial Innovation Network is exploring gamification to engage workforces and improve the efficiencies of trial start-up activities. Although more research is needed, a recent study explained how gamification could help site teams more seamlessly complete various tasks associated with clinical trial start-up, including completing regulatory approvals, contracts, IRB approvals, regulatory documents, and training requirements.3

A Growing Market
Fueled by the rising popularity of mobile health apps and wearable devices, the healthcare gamification market is surging, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.13% from 2023 to 2031.4 Decentralized clinical trials are now poised to provide an ideal platform for gamification techniques to propel this growth further. Recent market reports highlight the growing integration of virtual and augmented reality technologies and strategic collaborations between study sites and pharmaceutical companies. This confluence of factors emphasizes the potential of gamification to revolutionize trial engagement and bolster RWE collection, mirroring the impressive CAGR of 8.4% anticipated for the global RWE solutions market through 2030.5 

Using custom software, CROs can capture valuable insights into patient behavior and treatment effectiveness in real-world settings, complementing traditional clinical trial data. Gamification tools built into the latest software platforms can enhance engagement and participation, ensuring accurate RWE through more consistent real-world data collection.

Gamified Studies with EmpiraMed
EmpiraMed has pioneered an approach that includes industry-leading ePRO (electronic Patient Reported Outcomes) and eDiary technology with features like quizzes, engaging questions, and milestone rewards to incentivize participants to input information consistently. This gamified approach has yielded impressive results, with over 80% of participants staying actively engaged throughout a study. The error reduction achieved within the ePRO and eDiary data also ensures the accuracy of the research findings.

During a study using EmpiraMed tools, participants enter information in eDiaries on average every 22 hours, reflecting a high level of ongoing engagement. The company achieves high compliance rates, with 64% of patients actively using their eDiary weekly, contributing an average of 5 entries per patient. These statistics far surpass industry benchmarks for non-interventional studies, highlighting the effectiveness of EmpiraMed’s gamified approach in keeping participants engaged while yielding higher quality RWE.

With the rise of chronic conditions and the growing popularity of mobile health tools, the healthcare gamification market shows signs of continued significant growth. This suggests EmpiraMed’s gamified approach to participant registries, HEOR studies or clinical trials could be even more valuable in the future, extending beyond research and into broader patient engagement initiatives.

If you are ready to leverage the power of gamification tools to enhance your participant projects, contact EmpiraMed today to find out how you can achieve superior results!

 

References

  1. Cramer G. Unique Considerations for Patient Retention in Decentralized Clinical Trials. ACRP. Published February 22, 2023. https://acrpnet.org/2023/02/unique-considerations-for-patient-retention-in-decentralized-clinical-trials/
  2. Easy M. Alleviating Patient Burden in Clinical Trials: Modeling a Consumer-Grade Experience. MedCity News. Published January 3, 2024. Accessed April 17, 2024. https://medcitynews.com/2024/01/alleviating-patient-burden-in-clinical-trials-modeling-a-consumer-grade-experience/
  3. Lane K, Majkowski R, Gruber J, et al. Using gamification to enhance clinical trial start-up activities. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. Published online May 19, 2022:1-22. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2022.405
  4. ltd R and M. Global Healthcare Gamification Market Report and Forecast 2023-2031. www.researchandmarkets.com. Accessed April 17, 2024. https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5855106/global-healthcare-gamification-market-report
  5. 1.Real World Evidence Solutions Market Size Report, 2030. www.grandviewresearch.com. Accessed April 18, 2024. https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/real-world-evidence-solutions-market-report