The fear of losing data is more than legitimate. As clinical trial stakeholders you will have good stories to tell of paper diaries getting lost…or a full 1-month course of diary data being completed in 10 mins in the site waiting room before the visit! Compared to paper data collection, eCOA ensures higher data quantity, and significantly better data integrity and accuracy.
On top of recording the exact time of completion, eCOA reduces both the amount of missing data (by using reminders for instance) and the volume of incomplete data (by making it necessary to respond to each question before being able to move on to the next question).
Also, the risk of losing data is significantly reduced with eCOA as data are saved on the device and sent to a server quickly after completion; also, the devices are physically protected and unbreachable.
So, what is the risk of eCOA? With electronic data capture comes the risk of electronic device failure. However, this risk is small. Even when this occurs, the device can be fixed or replaced, and with the development of the Web and BYOD solutions, several eCOA back-up solutions are now available to build an efficient and adapted eCOA backup plan.
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