From the patient’s perspective; Haemophilia February 12, 2019 There are an estimated 400,000 people worldwide living with haemophilia, with approximately 6,000 sufferers in the UK alone. Haemophilia is an inherited disorder that affects the body’s ability to clot. Usually, when someone cuts themselves, clotting factors and platelets combine to make the blood stickier and stop the bleeding. However, in haemophiliacs, the bleeding episodes last longer due to abnormal clotting, and bruising and spontaneous bleeding can also occur too. The main problem for haemophiliacs is internal bleeding into joints, muscles and soft tissues, which can cause pain and stiffness and ultimately lead to joint damage. To better our understanding of the patient’s perspective when it comes to market research studies, we spoke to someone who recently took part in haemophilia research with GKA. written by GKA Read more
Who’s who in Breast Cancer February 6, 2019 The lowdown Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, with one person diagnosed every 10 minutes. Cancer Research UK predicts that one in eight women in the UK will develop breast cancer within their lifetimes, an increase of 50% over the last 25 years – making breast cancer market research a fast-growing fieldwork area. There are around 55,000 new cases of breast cancer reported in women in the UK every year, and although it’s much less common in men, there are still 390 male cases reported each year. written by GKA Read more
Five reasons recruitment has been difficult for your fieldwork project January 28, 2019 Are you finding your medical fieldwork recruitment harder than you expected? Or perhaps you are unsure as to why your recruitment agency is taking so long to recruit your sample? Don’t worry – recruitment can be tricky at the best of times, and when it comes to sourcing high-quality respondents for healthcare market research, it can be even more frustrating. From busy HCPs to rare therapy areas, there’s so much to think about that sometimes when it comes to figuring where you might have tripped up, you can’t see for looking. And that’s exactly why we’ve written this blog! Read on and discover the five most common reasons why your medical fieldwork recruitment might be a little bit more difficult than you expected – and what you can do to fix it! written by GKA Read more
From the patient’s perspective; Narcolepsy December 11, 2018 Narcolepsy is a rare neurological condition that causes a person to suddenly fall asleep at inappropriate times. It means the brain is unable to regulate sleeping and waking patterns normally, resulting in excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep attacks where sufferers fall asleep suddenly and without warning, cataplexy (a temporary loss of muscle control resulting in weakness and possible collapse), sleep paralysis, and excessive dreaming and waking in the night. Although narcolepsy doesn’t cause serious or long-term physical health problems, it can have a significant impact on daily life and be difficult to cope with emotionally. In this blog, we interview a patient who took part in a narcolepsy study, in order to humanise our patient journey research. written by GKA Read more
Who’s who in Alzheimer’s? A medical fieldwork guide December 7, 2018 Alzheimer’s is a physical disease that affects the brain and is the most common type of dementia in the UK. Over time, the disease causes proteins to build up in the brain and form structures called’plaques’ and’tangles’. These proteins lead to the loss of connections between nerve cells, eventually resulting in the death of the cells and loss of brain tissue. Additionally, Alzheimer’s sufferers also have a shortage of vital chemicals which help to transmit signals around the brain, meaning that the signals aren’t transmitted effectively. written by GKA Read more
Your guide to conducting medical market research in London November 14, 2018 There’s a lot to think about when conducting a medical market research project in a big city such as London. You might think that it is super easy to recruit in such a large city, but once you take into account the ever-increasing amount of qualifying criteria, it can actually become tricky whatever your chosen location. From the type of venue you choose to how many people you recruit, which specialist centres and hospitals you recruit from to any events occurring in the city that could impact your research on the day, there are lots of different things for medical market research companies to consider. Don’t worry though – with more than 25 years of experience, we’ve successfully conducted loads of healthcare market research projects in big cities and have gathered all of our top tips together right here so you can ensure your next medical market research project goes off without a hitch. written by GKA Read more