How Ethica helps with higher compliance rate

Mohammad Hashemian -

Compliance rate is arguably one of the most important factors to monitor while conducting a research study. A low compliance rate is indeed one of the major reasons as to why a research project might fail to generate the desired results. That’s why we are often asked by our users how Ethica can help with study adherence, or how the study protocol should be modified to increase compliance.

Over the past few years, we have added a number of features to the Ethica platform that can help researchers achieve a higher compliance rate. In this article, we share a very brief list of these options and features:

  • Cross-Platform Software: Ethica offers both Android and iOS applications which allows enrolling any participant regardless of the type of their device. In addition, Ethica’s web interface enables participants to access their account from any device that connects to the internet. They experience a consistent interface across all these platforms, allowing them to conveniently use the platform of their choice to participate in your studies.
  • Informed Consent form and Onboarding Process: Ethica presents your study’s consent form  that clearly explains the purpose of the study, how participants can help your research and make an impact, and their rights during their participation. Ethica also provides an interactive and user-friendly onboarding process for participants. These help the participants to be fully informed about the study and increase the likelihood of their cooperation with the study.
  • Respecting Participant’s Privacy: Ethica does not collect any sensor data unless the required permissions are clearly communicated with and granted by the participants. For example, when participants join a study that requires GPS or any other sensor data, the Ethica application will request permission to access the data.
  • Customizable Surveys: In Ethica, you can customize the content and time of your questionnaires and surveys to cater to the participants’ needs and preferences. Moreover, Ethica’s research tool offers other survey customization features, such as Triggering Logics and Criteria, that enable you to better personalize your surveys. For example, if the time of prompting surveys for your target demographic is an important factor, you can configure your survey such that each participant is prompted at their desired time.
  • Smart Notifications and Reminders: Ethica provides you with various options and channels to send notifications to your participants, based on the activities they are assigned to do and their preferences. By supporting in-app, SMS, and Email notifications, you can choose the best way to reach them. Moreover, you can send reminders to participants for their surveys, making sure that they don’t miss them.
  • Outstanding User Experience: The user interface of our surveys is the result of almost 8 years of design and is tailored to increase the response rates even in small-screen handheld devices. By paying particular attention to the participant experience, we have created an enjoyable user experience both for researchers and for participants.
  • Reward System: Ethica offers a badge-based reward system that keeps participants engaged during the study.
  • Study Dropout and Account Deletion: Participants in Ethica can drop out of a study at any time that they want. They can also delete their accounts in which case any data associated with them will be deleted. Ethica allows you to interview participants prior to their drop out, so you better understand the reasons for attrition and address them as much as possible.

There is no denying that maintaining a high compliance rate is a major challenge, especially for multi-year studies. But we have used the above features successfully in the past. Our longest RCT experience has been with a cohort of 3,000 participants, for 4 years of participation per individual. 3.5 years into this trial, we have had only 4 dropouts (0.1%), and then average compliance with study activities remains at 77.5%. While this metric can be improved, it’s a very strong indicator of holding compliance high over a long time.

If you are interested to know more about the features, and how they can contribute to your research, feel free to send us an email and we will be happy to chat.