Effectiveness of social media (Facebook), targeted mailing, and in-person solicitation for the recruitment of young adult in a diabetes self-management clinical trial

Salvy, Sarah-Jeanne; Carandang, Kristine; Vigen, Cheryl; Concha-Chavez, Alyssa; Blanchard, Jeanine; Díaz, Jesús; Raymond, Jennifer; Pyatak, Elizabeth A.

doi:10.1177/1740774520933362

Cited by 23 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Snowball sampling or direct messages on media produced by these forums were, therefore, low cost and high return, although they were demographically biased recruitment strategies in our study (ie, overrepresenting optimal glycemic control and possibly other factors beyond our statistical power) and in previous work (ie, overrepresenting women and college education) [ 9 , 11 , 33 , 34 ]. Others have used news feed advertising for young adults [ 10 ], a strategy we successfully extended to middle-aged and older adults but failed to reproduce among the younger adults.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Young adulthood (ie, 18 to 34 years old) is a time of critical health and psychosocial concerns in T1D (eg, pregnancy, transition from pediatric to adult care, and parental to personal health insurance), but consensus statements recognize that this age group is understudied in clinical trials [ 2 ]. Successful strategies for reaching this group include targeting by the age listed on social media profile [ 10 ] or medical record [ 10 , 21 ], or online support groups specific to young adults [ 9 ]. We, unfortunately, did not design our web-based methods to achieve such targeting; our news feed advertisements were targeted based on diabetes-related profile interests, which were uncommon among young adults, and the individuals who volunteered to start our snowball sampling happened to be middle-aged rather than young adults.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recruiting through social media has great potential to reach populations who would otherwise not participate in research. Social media is an effective strategy for recruiting young adults—98% use the internet and 88% use social media—and the internet is particularly effective for recruiting young adults aged 18 to 34 years with T1D [ 9 , 10 ]. However, less is known about the effectiveness of social media for recruiting middle-aged to older adults aged 35 to 65 years with T1D.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many analyses have concluded that digital recruitment introduces bias because internet browsing behavior correlates with demographics [ 13 - 15 ]. Therefore, any social media approach is inherently biased, but one potential strategy to diversify viewership is varying the way advertisements are delivered within the social media platform [ 10 , 13 ]. For example, advertisements can be placed within the home page news feed so they are viewed immediately or with unfocused scrolling, rather than having to intentionally visit a specific group page.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of Web-Based and In-Person Methods to Recruit Adults With Type 1 Diabetes for a Mobile Exercise Intervention: Prospective Observational Study

Ash¹,

Griggs²,

Nally³

et al. 2021

JMIR Diabetes

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Background Our clinical trial of a mobile exercise intervention for adults 18 to 65 years old with type 1 diabetes (T1D) occurred during COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, prompting us to test web-based recruitment methods previously underexplored for this demographic. Objective Our objectives for this study were to (1) evaluate the effectiveness and cost of using social media news feed advertisements, a clinic-based approach method, and web-based snowball sampling to reach inadequately active adults with T1D and (2) compare characteristics of enrollees against normative data. Methods Participants were recruited between November 2019 and August 2020. In method #1, Facebook and Instagram news feed advertisements ran for five 1-to-8-day windows targeting adults (18 to 64 years old) in the greater New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, areas with one or more diabetes-related profile interest. If interested, participants completed a webform so that the research team could contact them for eligibility screening. In method #2, patients 18 to 24 years old with T1D were approached in person at clinical visits in November and December 2019. Those who were interested immediately completed eligibility screening. Older patients could not be approached due to clinic restrictions. In method #3, snowball sampling was conducted by physically active individuals with T1D contacting their peers on Facebook and via email for 48 days, with details to contact the research staff to express interest and complete eligibility screening. Other methods referred participants to the study similarly to snowball sampling. Results In method #1, advertisements were displayed to 11,738 unique viewers and attracted 274 clickers (2.33%); 20 participants from this group (7.3%) volunteered, of whom 8 (40%) were eligible. Costs averaged US $1.20 per click and US $95.88 per eligible volunteer. Men had lower click rates than women (1.71% vs 3.17%; P<.001), but their responsiveness and eligibility rates did not differ. In method #2, we approached 40 patients; 32 of these patients (80%) inquired about the study, of whom 20 (63%) volunteered, and 2 of these volunteers (10%) were eligible. Costs including personnel for in-person approaches averaged US $21.01 per inquirer and US $479.79 per eligible volunteer. In method #3, snowball sampling generated 13 inquirers; 12 of these inquirers (92%) volunteered, of whom 8 (67%) were eligible. Incremental costs to attract inquirers were negligible, and total costs averaged US $20.59 per eligible volunteer. Other methods yielded 7 inquirers; 5 of these inquirers (71%) volunteered, of whom 2 (40%) were eligible. Incremental costs to attract inquirers were negligible, and total costs averaged US $34.94 per eligible volunteer. Demographic overrepresentations emerged in the overall cohort (ie, optimal glycemic control, obesity, and low exercise), among those recruited by news feed advertisements (ie, obesity and older age), and among those recruited by snowball sampling (ie, optimal glycemic control and low exercise). Conclusions Web-based advertising and recruitment strategies are a promising means to attract adults with T1D to clinical trials and exercise interventions, with costs comparing favorably to prior trials despite targeting an uncommon condition (ie, T1D) and commitment to an intervention. These strategies should be tailored in future studies to increase access to higher-risk participants. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04204733; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04204733

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of Web-Based and In-Person Methods to Recruit Adults With Type 1 Diabetes for a Mobile Exercise Intervention: Prospective Observational Study

Ash¹,

Griggs²,

Nally³

et al. 2021

JMIR Diabetes

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“…With the advent of electronic medical records (EMRs) and social media, investigators have multiple new available tools for meeting enrollment targets, such as EMR patient portal messaging 8–10 and targeted Facebook advertisements. 11,12 These novel strategies have the potential to reach more targeted populations faster than traditional media, such as periodicals and physically mailed advertisements. 11,13,14 However, previous literature has indicated that the use of primarily digital methods for recruitment may result in homogeneous trial samples and under-representation of minority racial groups.…”

Section: Background and Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Use of electronic recruitment methods in a clinical trial of adults with gout

Miller

Charleston

et al. 2020

Clinical Trials

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Background/aims: Electronic-based recruitment methods are increasingly utilized in clinical trials to recruit and enroll research participants. The cost-effectiveness of electronic-based methods and impact on sample generalizability is unknown. We compared recruitment yields, cost-effectiveness, and demographic characteristics across several electronic and traditional recruitment methods. Methods: We analyzed data from the diet gout trial recruitment campaign. The diet gout trial was a randomized, controlled, cross-over trial that examined the effects of a dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH)–like diet on uric acid levels in adults with gout. We used four electronic medical record and four non-electronic medical record–based recruitment methods to identify and recruit potentially eligible participants. We calculated the response rate, screening visit completion rate, and randomization rate for each method. We also determined cost per response, the screening, and randomization for each method. Finally, we compared the demographic characteristics among individuals who completed the screening visit by recruitment method. Results: Of the 294 adults who responded to the recruitment campaign, 51% were identified from electronic medical record–based methods. Patient portal messaging, an electronic medical record–based method, resulted in the highest response rate (4%), screening visit completion rate (37%), and randomization rate (21%) among these eight methods. Electronic medical record–based methods ($60) were more cost-effective per response than non-electronic medical record–based methods ($107). Electronic-based methods, including patient portal messaging and Facebook, had the highest proportion of White individuals screened (52% and 60%). Direct mail to non-active patient portal increased enrollment of traditionally under-represented groups, including both women and African Americans. Conclusion: An electronic medical record–based recruitment strategy that utilized the electronic medical record for participant identification and postal mailing for participant outreach was cost-effective and increased participation of under-represented groups. This hybrid strategy represents a promising approach to improve the timely execution and broad generalizability of future clinical trials.

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Recruiting families using social media versus pediatric obesity clinics: A secondary analysis of the Aim2Be RCT

Buckler,

González,

Ball

et al. 2023

Contemporary Clinical Trials

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Effectiveness of social media (Facebook), targeted mailing, and in-person solicitation for the recruitment of young adult in a diabetes self-management clinical trial

Cited by 23 publications

References 45 publications

Evaluation of Web-Based and In-Person Methods to Recruit Adults With Type 1 Diabetes for a Mobile Exercise Intervention: Prospective Observational Study

Evaluation of Web-Based and In-Person Methods to Recruit Adults With Type 1 Diabetes for a Mobile Exercise Intervention: Prospective Observational Study

Use of electronic recruitment methods in a clinical trial of adults with gout

Recruiting families using social media versus pediatric obesity clinics: A secondary analysis of the Aim2Be RCT

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