Vorteile
After a quick initial learning curve the system is easy to build out without having someone on staff that is an IT expert. Our clinical study managers are able to build out each study with little to no help from Castor. The database is easy to use by both clinical sites and sponsors. The company continues to improve the features of the system and provide webcasts to review the changes and answer user questions. The value can't be beat. As an early-stage start up company we are happy to have found a high-quality compliant system we can afford.
Nachteile
The one feature we feel is lacking is the ability of an investigator to "batch approve" once they have reviewed the data. It is labor intensive to approve each study visit and each record generated. Other systems provide this ability and investigator's expect this from all systems.
Castor has a good customers service who supports you when you encounter any difficulties and provides you with helpful tips/solutions.
Vorteile
It is easy for a non-experienced database builder to create your own database using Castor.
The database is easy to use for data-entry, monitoring and creating reports or surveys.
You can add a lot of users and adjust the rights for each of the users.
As an admin you have a clear overview on the progress of the study in all participating sites and you get a message every time a patient is included in the trial.
Nachteile
Sending out surveys is still a manual task, it would be great if by just entering the participants' email address, the surveys are sent automatically.
The ability to build our own research forms and surveys, quickly and in GDPR compliant way is a massive help for us as it has drastically reduced the cost of this and also the time it takes to get the forms built. It means we can do research faster and cheaper and with compliance headaches handled.
The support from Castor has been amazing. They are very quick to respond (even to stupid questions!) and gave us huge support before we signed up.
Vorteile
We literally have found tons of uses for Castor. The ability to build your own forms quickly and knowing the data is stored in a GDPR Compliant way is a HUGE help for us. Also the validation options in the fields are really good / ensure high level of data quality. And Also, The SPSS export function is really a great help too!
Nachteile
The Surveys do not work well on Mobile phones and most of our research participants would use them that way.
CASTOR incorporates everything that I wanted from an electronic data capture program, and is so easy to use that everyone can work with it.
Vorteile
CASTOR for me is the answer to electronic data capture. It is easy to use, you have full control, it is safe and data from several sources can be incorporated. Can be used by the investigator, monitor as well as the participant for answering the questionnaires. I also like the fact that the software keeps being developed and better features are added regulary. Communication is excellent.
Nachteile
The help section is sometimes a bit hard to work through. Also would like to have a printable version of the manual (esp. for instructions to people using the ready-made castor forms).
Vorteile
What I like about Castor is that I can create a user-friendly database that will also create a user-friendly output, i.e. that I can already prepare the data as much as possible to make data analysis easier.
Nachteile
More possibilities regarding surveys would add even more value: automatic reminders to subjects to complete their survey, notifications if surveys have not been completed yet (in addition to the existing notifications that surveys have been completed).
Castor is continuosly growing, so i always look forward to the next upgrade.
My experience is very good. I have a good connection with a few employers at Castor and we help each other out.
Vorteile
very easy to understand and use.
you have an immediate layout overview when setting up the database.
Nachteile
some validations are not yet possible
some validations need multiple calculations which takes time to build
Vorteile
Easy to use, customer friendly. Easily adjustable.
Nachteile
Sometimes Castor works too slow, so if i'm filling it in while seeing patients, it takes too long. Furthermore, some features do not work properly (like mark whole steps as missing, when the step is too large)
Vorteile
Really easy to use, very intuitive. In multicentre trials with lots of collaborators involved you need a software with those characteristics so that collaborators won't have problems. The online platform works really well and fast.
Nachteile
There are some things that need to be solved to save time, when giving access to collaborators, at least in trials with many users.
Vorteile
It is very intuitive to use. It's very easy to design a CRF. Customer support is always available to help with queries, if there are any. I honestly did not have any trouble at all running my study on Castor. I would recommend it to everyone and I strongly believe collaborative research is the way to go forward.
Nachteile
I don't have anything to criticise at all.
3 studies performed
Last with 650 researched and 145 centers: no problems; it’s great
Vorteile
Easy to use, very intuitive, powerful, agile, fast and accurate online support
Nachteile
There are NO cons in my experience in this moment
Great interface, dummy-proof, adheres to GCP-requirements without being disturbing to users. Hardly any bugs noted, but if there, they will be fixed within a few hours.
Ability to make accounts for different users with different restrictions (fantastic!).
Recommendations:
- Options to build eCRFS could be extended somewhat, e.g. medication module
- Other randomisation algorithms
- Option to adjust the planned dates for surveys (future survey invites) that have already been saved.
Thank you for your excellent feedback.
Regarding your points:
- Currently we recommend using the new "Repeated measures" feature to create your own medication module. We will try to include medication lists in Castor but that is difficult due to international differences
- We have built our Biased Coin Minimization (BCM) algorithm and are currently validating it, we will update you when it is released!
- This is a very valid point and was developed in the current 'sprint', it will be released in in version 4.7.
Again, thanks for the feedback, this is what we need to keep on improving Castor EDC!
- Derk Arts
MD, PhD.c
Founder Castor EDC
Vorteile
Easy to use
Fantastic customer service
Affordable
Nachteile
On rare occasions, bit of a lag time moving from one page to next while filling in form. Nothing major.
Vorteile
easy to use, good quality, easy acces and good value
Nachteile
Nothing specifically, so far no problems with the software have occured
Thanks for the review Jony! We really appreciate it. We currently have an experienced designer/UX team working on the Ease of Use of our platform. 4 stars is great, but we are definitely going for 5! So stay tuned :)
Derk Arts, MD PhD
CEO Castor EDC
Very good
Vorteile
It is reliable. Every day a back-up is made of my database.
Nachteile
Sometimes the site is running (very) slow. Especially after running some calculations.
It has made easier to carry on a prospective registry.
Vorteile
It helps you to have everything in order.
Nachteile
You can't print the information in a structured format.
Pros: Secure website, easy to use and error proof. Every answer is stored so when the internet fails, you don't lose information. Multi user, adaptable. Error checking but also flexible. So if you want to enter some strange data and you have a good reason, it is still possible. Still works great with large data.
Cons. Data entry is a bit slow and data entry with the keyboard is on my wish-list. Now all data must be entered with mouse clicks and for multiple choice that can be a burden.
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the review! Some great points. Keyboard navigation can indeed be approved, something we will work on. Performance is being constantly improved and also affected, for instance, by using many calculation fields in your forms. If these issues occur very often, please reach out to us!
- Derk Arts
MD, PhD.c, CEO
Very good experience for my PhD-project. Easy to set up and easy to use and to export!
Vorteile
easy to build up your project with. The structure helps you think about your statistical plan.
Nachteile
expensive compared to redcap, but still value for money
We used Castor EDC for a clinical trial at the Department of Cardiology of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. Building the case report form was quick and easy due to the intuitive system. Data entry was subsequently performed by several cardiologists, research fellows and research nurses . Using the export function we were able to analyze the data directly, enabling us to speed up the process of drafting and publishing manuscripts. Customer service was outstanding; questions were answered instantaneously, requests were addressed adequately and minor issues were solved within minutes.
In conclusion, Castor EDC offers great value for money and more. We highly recommend it's use.
Thank you Paul, it's always a pleasure to work with you and your department!
Nice!
Vorteile
- Really easy use
- very fast and complete answers from support
Nachteile
- sometimes is not easy to fill the form by the Investigators if repeated measures (report button) are used
Without any prior knowledge or course (just the oneline manual) I was able to make a suitable draft for a national survey. The software is very intuitive and complete, and the resulting forms are clear and consise. The participants of the survey were able to fill it out, with hardly any intrtoduction needed. It is easy to design different user roles, to ensure that participants can only see their own data and not the data entered by the other participants.
Dear Hans,
Great to hear that you were able to fully appreciate Castor EDC's self-service nature :).
Thanks for reviewing!
- Derk Arts
MD, PhD.c, CEO
I used the Castor EDC to create an eCRF for two large multicenter trials (24 centers and 260 subjects). I was amazed how easy it was.
The eCRF works extremely well and we have received many compliments from our Belgium sites about the easy lay-out and user-friendliness. The costumer service is excellent and I get response within a few hours ( no matter how stupid my question is). The Castor team update and improve their system all the time. We are very satified with this software.
Hi Esmé,
Wow, what a great review! Thank you so much, looking forward to doing more trials with you.
- Derk Arts
MD, PhD.c, CEO
The Castor software is easy to use, webbased and has an excellent user interface. We use the software for a research with substantial amount of data. In general it works very good, only sometimes we have to wait for the server and you have to renew the page. I recommend the software for research purposes. Research will be easier to monitor and to avoid loss of data.....
Thanks Jesse, great to hear you appreciate our efforts to make the ideal tool for PhD students and other researchers.
We are constantly optimizing performance of the application so I expect you won't have any freezes in the future.
This is by far the best software to use if you're building a medical database.
It has a lot of different options to build to your database and works very easily.
Also, the customer service is really helpful and answers your questions really quickly.
I would recommend this software for everyone who needs to build a medical database!
Dear Hein, thanks for being so positive! It really motivates us to hear these kind words. Castor EDC was created by researchers for researchers, so we are always happy to hear that we can fulfill a need!
- Derk Arts
MD, PhD.c, CEO
We use Castor for several studies, we espesially use it for surveys for patients
Vorteile
Castor is very easy to use, and the helpdesk tries to help you very fast
Nachteile
I find the calculations hard to use. so I need help with it very often.
You don't need extensive IT/programming skills in order to create your desired eCRF. This might make the eCRF less flexible, but I believe you still have all the tools you need.
Furthermore: if you think Castor doesn't have what you need, their Customer Service is great. They will reply to your question/remark almost always the same day and help you with (figuring out) a solution. Or implement your request in an update :)
Thank you for the kind words Janine, we're glad you're happy with our customer service!
Very positive. It's a compliant, easy to use, intuitive system that is affordable.