• WCG’s eCOA portfolio and imaging analysis technology from NeuroRx are now part of Clario!

menu-close-icon
Your using an unsupported browser. Please update to a modern browser for a better experience.
Skip to content
Clario Clario
  • Solutions
    • eCOA Clinical Trials
      • eCOA Clinical Trials
      • eCOA Live
      • eCOA Multimedia
      • eCOA Rapid Start
      • eCOA Rater and Participant Training
      • eCOA Rescue Studies
      • Suicidal Ideation
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)

      Discover Clario's AI solutions, where innovation meets expertise. Since 2018, we have revolutionized clinical trial endpoint analyses with more than 30 AI-enabled solutions across 600+ active trials, enhancing data quality and patient privacy while expediting data collection processes.

      Go to page
    • Cardiac Solutions
      • Cardiac Solutions
      • Arrhythmia Analysis
      • Blood Pressure Services
      • ECG — On-site to DCT and Phase I-IV
      • Phase I/TQT Cardiac Assessment
      • Regulatory Consultation and Statistical Analysis Expertise
    • Medical Imaging
      • Medical Imaging
      • Medical Imaging science team
      • Image Redact AI
      • Imaging Platform
      • Modalities
      • SMART Submit
    • Precision Motion
      • Precision Motion for Clinical Trials
      • Precision Motion for Research
      • Precision Motion: Scientific Publications
    • Respiratory Solutions
      • Respiratory Solutions
      • Site-Based Spirometry (FEV1, FVC, PEF, and more.)
      • Virtual Home Spirometry
      • Cough and Lung Sounds
      • Diffusing Capacity (DLCO)
    • Trial Enablement
      • Trial Enablement
      • Clinical Adjudication
      • Eligibility Solution
      • Reporting & Analytics
      • Source Document Manager
    • Decentralized Trials

      All the precision endpoint technology and services your virtual or hybrid trial needs to deliver more certain outcomes.

      Go to page
  • Therapeutic Areas
    • Cardiovascular & Metabolic
    • Neuroscience
    • Dermatology
    • Oncology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Ophthalmology
    • Hepatology
    • Respiratory Solutions
    • Infectious Diseases
    • Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity
    • Musculoskeletal
  • Resources
    • Blog Articles
    • Case Studies
    • Downloads
    • Events
    • External Publications
    • Webinars
  • About
    • The Clario Story
    • Careers
    • Corporate & Social Responsibility
    • Information Security
    • Leadership
    • Legal & Privacy
    • Newsroom
    • Scientific Expertise
    • Strategic Partnerships
    • Values & Culture
  • Support
    • Customer Support
    • In-Country Cardiac Safety Support
  • Solutions
    • eCOA Clinical Trials
      • eCOA Clinical Trials
      • eCOA Live
      • eCOA Multimedia
      • eCOA Rapid Start
      • eCOA Rater and Participant Training
      • eCOA Rescue Studies
      • Suicidal Ideation
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
    • Cardiac Solutions
      • Cardiac Solutions
      • Arrhythmia Analysis
      • Blood Pressure Services
      • ECG — On-site to DCT and Phase I-IV
      • Phase I/TQT Cardiac Assessment
      • Regulatory Consultation and Statistical Analysis Expertise
    • Medical Imaging
      • Medical Imaging
      • Medical Imaging science team
      • Image Redact AI
      • Imaging Platform
      • Modalities
      • SMART Submit
    • Precision Motion
      • Precision Motion for Clinical Trials
      • Precision Motion for Research
      • Precision Motion: Scientific Publications
    • Respiratory Solutions
      • Respiratory Solutions
      • Site-Based Spirometry (FEV1, FVC, PEF, and more.)
      • Virtual Home Spirometry
      • Cough and Lung Sounds
      • Diffusing Capacity (DLCO)
    • Trial Enablement
      • Trial Enablement
      • Clinical Adjudication
      • Eligibility Solution
      • Reporting & Analytics
      • Source Document Manager
    • Decentralized Trials
      • Decentralized Trials
  • Therapeutic Areas
    • Cardiovascular & Metabolic
    • Dermatology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Hepatology
    • Infectious Diseases
    • Musculoskeletal
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Ophthalmology
    • Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity
    • Respiratory Solutions
  • Resources
    • Blog Articles
    • Case Studies
    • Downloads
    • Events
    • External Publications
    • Webinars
  • About
    • The Clario Story
    • Corporate & Social Responsibility
    • Information Security
    • Leadership
    • Legal & Privacy
    • Scientific Expertise
    • Strategic Partnerships
    • Values & Culture
  • Support
    • Customer Support
    • In-Country Cardiac Safety Support
  • Careers
    • Life at Clario
  • Newsroom
  • Login
  • Contact sales
    • Log in
    • Contact sales
  1. Home Resources Blog Articles eDiaries: How often is too often?

eDiaries: How often is too often?

Best practices for receiving high compliance rates

Valdo Arnera, M.D. – eCOA Scientific Advisor at Clario

Clario began using e-diaries in clinical trials nearly 25 years ago. During this time, two fundamental
questions have continued to arise:

  • How often should a questionnaire be completed by the patient?

That is, how much can we reasonably ask of a patient daily? What about weekly or monthly? Too often may lead to poor compliance; not frequently enough may result in not enough ePRO data being collected for your study.

  • How many questions should we ask the patient?

While there will never be a “magic number” in response to these questions, Clario has learned a few
guiding principles along the way to help guide trials.

1 Keep questions simple and keep them to a minimum

The simpler the diary is, the easier it is for patients to understand. When appropriately designed, e-diaries can obtain very high compliance.

An example of a simple, well-designed e-diary is for medication intake, in which patients log the medications they are taking and when.

2 The frequency depends upon the indication and the patient population under study

Patients taking part in oncology studies, for example, would generally be more willing and motivated to complete questionnaires more often than those who are in a trial for a skin rash.

3 Make sure patients understand why they are being asked the questions

The third piece of advice is to ensure that patients clearly understand why they are being asked to complete the assessment and ensure the questions are relevant to them.

Let’s consider a couple of examples:

In trials for urinary incontinence or menopause, events can take place a dozen times each day. Sponsors may consider it too burdensome to ask patients to complete a diary after each event. However, Clario studies within these indications have shown high compliance rates because patients understand why it is so important to collect these data points.

Compliance can also remain very high, even when the ‘ask’ of the patient is complex and time-consuming. In a Clario study for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), patients were asked 15 questions in the morning and evening and were required to blow into a PEF meter three times in the morning and then sync the values to an e-diary. The study was also lengthy, lasting 64 weeks. Despite all this, compliance exceeded 93% because the patients understood why they were being asked to perform these diary entries and measurements and were relevant to them and their condition.

In conclusion, when designing an eDiary, questions should be relevant and easy to understand, and questions should be kept to a minimum to gather only the necessary data points. Studies can achieve high compliance rates if eDiaries are designed with the above considerations in mind. This is true even if 1) questionnaires are long; 2) patients are asked to complete a diary several times a day; or 3) the requested action is complex or seemingly burdensome. Getting eDiary designs right is critical to patient engagement, compliance levels and data quality.

If you would like to find out more about how Clario’s eCOA Science Team can support your next study, visit our eCOA webpage.

Elevate your clinical outcomes

Ready to experience the transformative impact of modern eCOA solutions on clinical trials? Dive into a realm where technology meets patient-centric research.

Learn more
Back to articles
Share
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Latest articles

See all articles
Article

Researcher spotlight: Josefa Domingos

Precision Motion

Read
Article

Transforming clinical trials with AI

SCOPE speaking session

Read
Article

Researcher spotlight: Lori Quinn

Precision Motion

Read
Clario logo
    • Solutions
    • Therapeutic Areas
    • About
    • Resources
    • Careers
    • Newsroom
  • Get in touch

    • Contact
    • Support
    • Customer portal

Follow us

Twitter LinkedIn Glassdoor
×

Contact sales

If you are looking for a partner to help you generate the richest clinical evidence with the right clinical trial technology, please fill in the form below.


Not what you're looking for?

Please visit our Contact Page for customer support, office locations, or media contacts.

  • © 2025 Clario

    • Legal and Privacy Terms
    • Information Security
    • Cookie Policy
    • Impressum