Historically, clinical trial activities, including recruitment, retention,
delivery of interventions, and data collection, have been conducted
using conventional “face-to-face” approaches.
For example, newspaper or radio advertisements are used to recruit participants, mail or telephone
calls are used to conduct follow-up assessments, interventions
are delivered in person, and data are collected using paper-and-pencil
instruments.
Clinical trials have been slow to incorporate e-technology (i.e., digital and electronic technology that utilizes mobile devices or the Internet) into the design and execution of studies and are challenged to keep pace with fast-moving developments in technology.
For example, in the timeit takes to design, implement, and publish findings from a research study (approximately 6 years), the world went from playing interactive video games (Wii) to using voice-activated
personal assistants (Siri)