Four Methods of Recruiting Couples Into a Longitudinal Study of Physical Activity in People With Osteoarthritis: Recruitment, Retention, and Lessons Learned

Abstract

Increases in physical activity can reduce joint pain among people with osteoarthritis (PWOA) who are insufficiently physically active. Because evidence suggests that social support from intimate partners may help PWOA become more active, researchers have been interested in recruiting couples to studies of physical activity interventions; however, little guidance exists describing efficient and effective strategies for engaging couples in research. We describe methods used to recruit couples and contrast methods in terms of the proportion of individuals enrolled, sample demographic composition, retention, and resources. We used four recruitment methods to enroll couples in a longitudinal study of PWOA: (1) visiting community sites, (2) sending university-wide emails, (3) contacting patients identified through electronic medical records (EMR), and (4) partnering with a county-based osteoarthritis (OA) research cohort. We found that these methods differed in their challenges and contribution to enrollment goals but demonstrated similar levels of retention. We contacted 747 PWOA; 56% were screened for eligibility and 23% enrolled in the study. The largest proportion of participants recruited were from the email method (35.1%), followed by the community (26%), EMR (22.0%), and OA cohort (19.6%). Couples enrolled through the different methods differed by age, employment, education, and household income. Across the methods for both PWOA and partners, over 80% of participants were non-Hispanic white, about 11% were non-Hispanic black, and 6–8% identified as another race. Over 12 months of follow-up, 31 (17.9%) PWOA and 36 (20.8%) partners were lost to follow-up. Using four distinct recruitment methods allowed us to meet recruitment goals and provided a broader, more diverse population compared to using one method. We recommend that researchers consider several recruitment methods to meet enrollment goals, to ensure a diverse sample, and to match available resources. The lessons learned from this research fill a critical gap in the understanding of how to overcome barriers to recruiting and retaining couples in behavioral research.

The Role of Cohabitating Partner and Relationship Characteristics on Physical Activity among Individuals with Osteoarthritis

“…For this analysis, only baseline data were used. Individuals with osteoarthritis were recruited via the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project [27]; emails to university students and employees; electronic medical records at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and community locations, including senior centers [28]. Couples consisted of the individual with osteoarthritis who was initially recruited and their partner.…”

Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Underrepresented Populations and Adults With Arthritis in Behavioral Interventions: A Scoping Review

“…Of the interventions and protocol/design papers describing interventions (Table 1), the studies were primarily focused on physical activity or exercise (n = 25) (44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)58,59,(61)(62)(63)(64)(65)(66)(68)(69)(70)(71)(72)(73) with only 5 studies examining disease selfmanagement programs (43,49,56,57,60,67). Of the reviews included (Table 2), 1 focused on recruitment strategies used for disease self-management programs (78), and 7 summarized recruitment and/or retention strategies for physical activity or exercise interventions (21,(79)(80)(81)(82)(83)(84).…”

“…Among physical activity or exercise interventions, a few studies targeted populations with arthritis, including osteoarthritis (58,73), rheumatoid arthritis (73), and FM (50). The majority of studies included primarily African American (44)(45)(46)(47)(48)51,52,54,55,59,(64)(65)(66) or Hispanic or Latino populations (53,54,62,66,69,71,72).…”

Methodological strategies to engage young black and Latino heterosexual couples in sexual and reproductive health research

“…Currently, the public health and implementation science literature on optimal couple-focused recruitment methods is growing [21][22][23][24][25][26]. However, research outlining specific methodological strategies to engage AYA couples in SRH research is relatively scarce [24,27,28].…”