The importance of interviewing investigators and study nurses
Not only is it relevant to interview the patients participating in clinical trials – it can also be highly valuable to get direct observations from the investigators and/or study nurses who participate in a clinical trial.
The investigators and study nurses see and hear directly from the patients how it is to use the new drug, which means that they can combine their knowledge and their observations on how they see the drug works in patients. Moreover, based on their professional experience, they may also be able to elaborate on how they see the new drug works in comparison to existing therapies. Thus, interviewing investigators and/or study nurses in a clinical trial can provide valuable input that patients are typically not able to give as they may be naïve to a given treatment.
Investigators and study nurses normally get to provide their feedback at the result meeting – yet, the challenge is that these result meetings take place up to 5-6 months after the trial has ended. This introduces a large recall issue to the busy investigators meaning that valuable insights that could inform the drug development are often lost. Even if the investigators can remember and provide feedback at these result meetings, the challenge is that the project will typically already have moved forward and may have commenced the execution of the following clinical trials supporting the investigational drug.
Click here to read more about the challenges and solutions to obtaining stronger and more timely feedback from investigators and study nurses in your clinical trials.
When to get feedback from investigators and study nurses?
At Clinigma®, we recommend interviewing the participating investigators and/or study nurses following their last patient’s last visit. In this way, it is possible to get the investigators’ and/or study nurses’ feedback while they can still remember their observations, and while their feedback can still be used to inform/improve the design of following clinical trials.
Click here to learn more about how we support pharmaceutical companies in obtaining structured feedback from patients as well as investigators and study nurses in clinical trials.
