A study has an expected enrollment period of one year but has subject recruitment issues.

Adding multiple new sites late in the enrollment period creates aconcentrated influx of new datanear the end of the study. These sites typically start enrolling patients later, resulting in a“bolus” of Case Report Forms (CRFs)that must be entered, validated, and cleaned within a shorter timeframe to meet database lock deadlines.

According to theGood Clinical Data Management Practices (GCDMP, Chapter: Project Management and Data Flow), late site activation compresses the timeline for data management tasks, necessitating increased resources fordata entry, query management, and cleaning. Data management teams must anticipate this surge and plan accordingly—either by increasing staffing or revising timelines to prevent bottlenecks and maintain quality.

Whileoption D(increased query rates) can occur, it is a secondary effect. Themost direct and consistent impactis the surge in data volume requiring expedited processing near study end.

Reference (CCDM-Verified Sources):

SCDM GCDMP, Chapter: Project Management, Section 5.3 – Managing Changes in Site Activation and Data Flow

ICH E6(R2) GCP, Section 5.1 – Quality Management and Oversight