It is important to review progress of the trial at regular intervals throughout the lifetime of the trial. The aim of regular progress reporting is to review progress against planned milestones, review recruitment across the trial (and in individual centres) and to identify any emerging problems in a timely manner.
Regular review of the progress of a trial will allow the trial team
to identify in advance any action that is required to keep the trial on
target, on time and on budget. Often, progress reports identify
centres where recruitment is problematic (which may require new centres
to be found). Progress reports also often identify common problems
being experienced across the trial (e.g. problems with trial supplies)
and allow the team to come up with solutions that will work across all
trial centres and settings.
Most grant funding agencies require that regular progress reports are completed as a condition of the grant award. Depending on the funder six monthly or one year progress reports are usually required as well as a final report. Similarly some ethics committees and other agencies (e.g. regulatory agencies) may require regular reports. These requirements should be identified at the start of the trial and planned for in the trial timeline. If the trial has a steering committee they should also receive reports.
A great deal of the information required for inclusion in progress reports is directly linked to monitoring recruitment (see section XXX for further details and useful tools).