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Alzheimer's disease

Site Type Differences in Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Trials Highlighted by New Research

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Research from the University of Southern California sheds light on the importance of considering site type when designing multisite preclinical Alzheimer's disease trials. The study compared recruitment and retention outcomes between academic and non-academic sites, yielding valuable insights for investigators.

Key Takeaways:

  • Academic sites enrolled participants primarily through earned media and organizational referrals, whereas non-academic sites relied more on internal referrals and advertisements.
  • Academic sites had higher proportions of participants with a family history of dementia and a professional degree, but lower proportions of individuals with a history of diabetes and a CDR-SB score above 0.
  • Non-academic sites had a higher screening rate (number of participants screened/site/month) but a lower randomization rate (randomized/screened) compared to academic sites.
  • Completion rates did not differ significantly between site types.
  • Reasons for discontinuation differed between site types, with non-academic sites experiencing higher rates of withdrawal of consent or loss to follow-up.

Statistics:

  • 1,058 participants were randomized across 50 academic and 15 non-academic sites in North America.
  • 835 participants were enrolled at academic sites, while 223 were enrolled at non-academic sites.
  • 140 out of 243 (57.6%) participants who discontinued the trial in academic sites withdrew consent or were lost to follow-up.
  • 56 (77.8%) out of the 72 participants who discontinued the trial at non-academic sites withdrew consent or were lost to follow-up.

Sources:

  • Recruitment and retention in a preclinical AD trial: comparisons between academic and non-academic sites. Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, 2025;17(1):222.
  • NewsRx. Research Results from University of Southern California Update Understanding of Alzheimer Disease (Recruitment and retention in a preclinical AD trial: comparisons between academic and non-academic sites). Health & Medicine Week. October 31, 2025; p 5596.

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