Here are some of the best questions for a clinical trial participants survey focused on quality of life impact, plus tips for creating them. We use Specific to build these surveys in seconds—no technical know-how required.
The best open-ended questions for quality of life impact surveys
Open-ended questions encourage participants to share details about their experience, without being constrained by predefined answers. They’re ideal for capturing nuanced, authentic feedback on quality of life—an area where every individual’s perspective is a little different.
Analyzing responses to open-ended questions has real benefits: studies show that collecting and sharing patient feedback on quality of life can improve satisfaction in clinical settings, sometimes by more than 5% compared to standard assessments. [1]
Can you describe how participating in this trial has affected your day-to-day activities?
What changes, positive or negative, have you noticed in your overall well-being since joining the trial?
Have there been any unexpected challenges related to your quality of life while participating?
Are there aspects of your physical health that you feel have improved or worsened due to the trial?
How would you describe the emotional impact of being part of this clinical study?
What support, if any, would have helped you better manage your quality of life during the trial?
In your own words, what does “quality of life” mean to you at this stage of the trial?
Are there activities you’ve had to change or stop because of the trial or its treatments?
How has participating affected relationships with your family, friends, or work colleagues?
Is there anything else you want us to know about your experience and well-being in this trial?
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for clinical trial participants
Single-select (one answer only) multiple-choice questions are perfect when you need to quantify specific aspects of quality of life, or when you want to make it easy for participants to start sharing. This method lowers the mental barrier, letting you quickly assess common issues—then invite richer follow-ups.
Question: Since starting the clinical trial, how would you rate your overall quality of life?
Much improved
Somewhat improved
No change
Somewhat worse
Much worse
Question: Which area of your life has been most affected by participating in the trial?
Physical health
Emotional well-being
Work or daily routine
Relationships
Other
Question: Did you receive enough information about how the trial might impact your quality of life?
Yes, definitely
Somewhat
No, not enough
When to follow up with "why?" After someone chooses an option, always ask “why?” or “can you elaborate?” when you want deeper insight. For instance, if a participant selects "Much worse" for quality of life, asking “Can you tell us why you feel this way?” can reveal actionable details that a simple rating would miss.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always include "Other" when it’s possible your answer set misses an important area. Asking people to specify what “other” means through a follow-up uncovers unexpected feedback that can shape future trials or improve participant support.
NPS-type question for gauging participant recommendations
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a classic tool for measuring whether someone would recommend a product or experience—in this case, participation in a clinical trial. For quality of life impact, it shows not just satisfaction but also participant loyalty and advocacy. Including an NPS question can help you benchmark participant engagement and overall trial experience, making it easier to spot trends in feedback over time.
You can instantly generate an NPS survey for clinical trial participants about quality of life impact with Specific.
The power of follow-up questions
Follow-up questions are where the real insight happens. Instead of making people fit their stories into a checkbox, you let them elaborate, clarify, or explain.
Specific takes this to another level with AI follow-up questions—every time a participant answers, the system analyzes their words and asks sharpening follow-ups, just like a great human interviewer. This approach saves researchers countless hours that would otherwise be spent chasing answers via email or missing context in ambiguous replies. It creates a smooth, conversational experience that feels natural for the respondent.
Participant: “I stopped doing some activities.”
AI follow-up: “Could you tell me what activities you stopped and how that impacted you?”
How many followups to ask? Generally, 2-3 follow-ups are enough to clarify answers and get the needed context. It’s best to give participants the option to skip further probing once sufficient detail is shared. Specific’s platform lets you fine-tune this setting, so the conversation always feels respectful and efficient.
This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of a static list of questions, the participant has a two-way chat with your AI survey, resulting in richer engagement.
AI analysis, summarize open-ended feedback, theme discovery: Even with lots of unstructured feedback, analyzing responses is easy thanks to AI. You can use the AI survey response analysis feature to surface key themes, trends, and actionable summaries—no manual coding required.
This automated approach to follow-ups is a new standard—try generating your own survey and see how simple and powerful it really feels.
Prompt tips: how to ask ChatGPT for clinical trial survey questions
If you're working with ChatGPT or similar AI tools, start with a specific prompt:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Clinical Trial Participants survey about Quality Of Life Impact.
But remember—AI works best when you give it more context. For example:
I am designing a survey for participants in a clinical trial of a new cancer treatment. My goal is to understand how the trial is affecting quality of life, including emotional, physical, and social aspects. Suggest 10 open-ended questions to capture their experience.
Once you have a set of questions, organize them further:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Review these categories, select one or two you want to explore in depth, then use:
Generate 10 questions for categories “physical impact” and “emotional well-being”.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey feels like a dynamic chat, not a static form. Every response triggers real-time follow-up, probing, or clarification, resulting in richer answers and less dropout. That’s a major change from the old way of designing surveys, where static forms often led to incomplete or ambiguous responses.
Manual Surveys | AI-Generated Conversational Surveys |
|---|---|
Static set of questions—no adaptation to individual answers | Adaptive follow-ups based on participant context, keeping feedback relevant |
Time-consuming to design and build, especially for complex surveys | Instant creation from a natural-language prompt with an AI survey generator |
Manual analysis of open-ended responses—slow and error-prone | AI-driven analysis, summaries, and easy team collaboration |
Often higher dropout or unclear answers | Higher quality engagement, better data for decision-making |
Why use AI for clinical trial participants surveys? High dropout and recruitment challenges threaten clinical trial integrity, with participant dropout rates as high as 30%. Using AI-powered tools like Specific makes it simple to build, run, and analyze conversational surveys, helping researchers boost engagement, reduce participant burden, and get actionable insights faster. [2] With AI, you can adapt in real time, personalize follow-ups, and analyze qualitative data with unprecedented speed. Don’t miss the opportunity to see how an AI survey example elevates your project.
For a full walkthrough, see our guide on how to create a clinical trial participants survey about quality of life impact and explore more AI survey maker capabilities.
Specific delivers best-in-class user experience for conversational surveys, creating a natural flow for both respondents and research teams. It removes friction from survey creation, unlocks deeper feedback, and transforms participant feedback into clear, actionable next steps.
See this quality of life impact survey example now
Ready to ask the right questions? Try a conversational, AI-powered quality of life impact survey today for deeper insight, higher retention, and a better experience for your clinical trial participants.