Table 1 The implementation of four recruitment steps in the CTA tool and possible benefits
| Step | Definition | Example | Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identification |
All possible study participants are recognized |
Clinical trial alert (CTA) automated recognition running in the background of the practice computer software to filter out all women ≥60 and men ≥70 |
No patients are missed Net sample automatically documented No effort required for the practice staff |
| Eligibility check |
Specifically defined inclusion and exclusion criteria are applied to the net sample |
Practice staff (nurse or doctor) reviews patient data for exclusion criteria and checks appropriate box on screen |
Practice staff can document exclusion criteria on the practice computer by making one click |
| Contact |
Eligible participants are informed about the study and are asked to participate |
Practice staff introduces the study and asks for patient consent Patient response is documented using practice computer |
Practice staff can easily document all patient contacts using the practice computer Study centre can monitor activity |
| Enrolment |
Patients follow through on their intention to participate in the study |
Baseline osteoporosis survey is filled in using the practice computer Pseudonymised data set is immediately transferred to the study centre |
No patients lost between the GP practice and study centre All survey data is immediately available |
