The Complexities Of Effective Patient Retention In Clinical Trials

Recruiting participants for clinical trials is only half the battle — keeping them engaged and enrolled is where long-term success is truly determined. Mary Jo Lamberti, Director of Sponsored Research at Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (Tufts CSDD), says she believes clinical trial patient retention has become more difficult. “We find that it takes more patients to be screened in order to get the same number of completed patients,” she says. “There are newer tactics for retention that companies are using, but there’s still the challenge with protocols becoming so complex.”

Research indicates that maintaining retention rates above 80% is critical to ensuring data integrity and achieving a trial’s primary endpoints.¹ Yet, dropout rates continue to hover around 20%², driven by factors such as treatment side effects, travel burden, and insufficient communication.³

To counter this persistent challenge, sponsors must go beyond traditional recruitment tactics. Identifying and enrolling the right-fit patients from the outset is essential, but so is implementing comprehensive retention strategies that prioritize patient comfort, trust, and ongoing engagement. Proactive communication, logistical support, and a patient-centric trial experience are key to reducing attrition and safeguarding the validity of clinical outcomes.