Efficacy of print advertising for a bipolar disorder study.
OBJECTIVE
Using quality and quantity of responses, this study evaluated the efficacy of advertising in print media for a bipolar disorder clinical trial.


METHODS
We analyzed the corresponding quantity of calls generated and the cost per patient yield at each of the standard study milestones, spending on print advertising. Quality of calls was based on the attrition rates at each of the study stages.


RESULTS
Five hundred and twenty-six calls were received over a 28-month period (February 2004 to June 2006). The largest number of calls were received early in the week (Monday, 25.6%; Tuesday, 23.5%; Wednesday, 18.8%), corresponding with increased advertisements toward the end of the previous week. From the total calls received, 17.14% were eligible for a screening visit, 10.28% were randomized, 9.14% were evaluable, and 7% completed the 8-week study. Sixty percent of the subjects who attended the screening visit were randomized and 68.5% of the randomized subjects completed the study.


CONCLUSIONS
The yield from phone calls responding to print advertising for a bipolar disorder study was 7%, costing $1,330 per evaluable subject and $1,725 per completed subject. These figures may be useful benchmarks in recruitment planning and budgeting for participants in clinical trials on bipolar disorder.
Roy
Sumeet
S
University of South Florida College of Medicine, FL, USA. 2drsumeet@gmail.com
Patel
Shilpa
S
Sheehan
Kathy Harnett
KH
Janavs
Juris
J
Sheehan
David
D
D000329:Advertising; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D010358:Patient Participation; D012189:Retrospective Studies