Losing participants before the trial ends erodes credibility of findings

AIMS AND METHOD: To estimate the proportion of attrition at which results of drug trials for people with schizophrenia lose enough credibility to become mistrusted by relevant groups of stakeholders. A piloted questionnaire was sent to 128 local clinicians, 100 relevant researchers and 104 service users and carers. RESULTS: We received the biggest number of responses from the service user and carer group (n=81, 76%); 43% of clinicians and 32% of researchers responded. All three groups suggested that the follow-up rate for a 12-week schizophrenia drug trial should be around 70-75% for the trial to be credible. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: This survey suggests that relevant stakeholders, including researchers, fundamentally mistrust results of the majority of drug trials in schizophrenia. Adopting a more pragmatic trial design can help address this.