Factors influencing clinical trial site selection in Europe: the Survey of Attitudes towards Trial sites in Europe (the SAT-EU Study)

Objectives: Applications to run clinical trials in Europe fell 25% between 2007 and 2011. Costs, speed of approvals and shortcomings of European Clinical Trial Directive are commonly invoked to explain this unsatisfactory performance. However, no hard evidence is available on the actual weight of these factors or has it been previously investigated whether other criteria may also impact clinical trial site selection. Design: The Survey of Attitudes towards Trial sites in Europe (SAT-EU Study) was an anonymous, crosssectional web-based survey that systematically assessed factors impacting European clinical trial site selection. It explored 19 factors across investigatordriven, hospital-driven and environment-driven criteria, and costs. It also surveyed perceptions of the European trial environment. Setting and participants: Clinical research