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Optimizing telemedicine to facilitate amyotrophic lateral sclerosis clinical trials
Author(s) -
Govindarajan Raghav,
Berry James D.,
Pagai Sabrina,
Pulley Michael T.,
Simmons Zachary
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.26921
Subject(s) - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , telemedicine , clinical trial , licensure , medicine , pandemic , physical medicine and rehabilitation , medline , covid-19 , intensive care medicine , disease , health care , nursing , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , political science , law , economics , economic growth
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has the largest drug pipeline among neuromuscular diseases, with over 160 companies actively involved in ALS research. There is a growing need to recruit trial participants, but ALS patients often have limited mobility and most ALS trials are conducted in a small number of major centers. These factors effectively limit patient participation, particularly for those in rural areas. The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has necessitated the more widespread use of telemedicine technology for clinical care, and has prompted consideration of its increased use for clinical trials. In this opinion piece, we describe the current state of telemedicine for recruitment, consenting, and screening of participants for clinical trials. We also summarize the available data on remote administration of outcome measures. Current challenges include validation of outcome measures for remote assessment, as well as technological, regulatory, and licensure barriers.