Integrative Review of Recruitment of Research Participants Through Facebook

Abstract

Background Facebook (FB) has been widely used recently to recruit participants for adult health research. However, little is known about its effectiveness, cost, and the characteristics of participants recruited via FB when compared to other recruitment methods. Objectives The purpose of this integrative review was to examine the published evidence concerning the use of FB in participant recruitment for adult health research, as compared to other social media, online, and traditional recruitment methods. Methods In this integrative review, we used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. PubMed, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and Web of Science were the electronic databases used to identify the published articles. In regard to language, the search was limited. Results The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of using FB for recruitment in healthcare research as compared to more traditional forms of recruitment remain unclear. Reporting of recruitment strategies is inconsistent, and costs are often not included. FB is being used for recruitment frequently with other methods and, although often effective, can be costly. Discussion FB is used to recruit participants for a variety of studies, with researchers using both free and paid ads to reach potential participants. Reporting of recruitment methods needs to be more rigorous, streamlined, and standardized in scientific papers.

Facebook Recruitment for Children with Advanced Cancer and Their Parents: Lessons from a Web-based Pediatric Palliative Intervention Study

“…21 In the following section, we describe the details of the Facebook recruitment method based on the four recruitment plan components-planning, initiating, conducting, and reporting. 3 Other results related to the webbased legacy intervention have been reported elsewhere. [24][25][26][27][28]…”

“…Poor recruitment and retention rates can lead to a waste of research resources and poor-quality results that cannot be generalized to other patient groups. [1][2][3][4] This challenge may be caused in part by the limited number of potential subjects, families' needs and preferences about study participation including a reluctance to have time away from their very ill child, lack of communication opportunities during the consent process, and professional gatekeeping. [4][5][6][7] Many pediatric palliative researchers use multisite studies to achieve adequate sample sizes 8 or limited numbers of participants due to small pools of eligible children with serious health conditions.…”

“…1 Specifically, social media can easily expose potential participants to study information via computers and mobile devices. 3 Among many social media platforms, Facebook can serve as a useful recruitment tool for researchers by providing customized paid advertisements and exposure rate check metrics. 3 Facebook is one of the largest global social networks and has 2.5 billion monthly active users, thereby offering researchers a platform to reach a large number of potential participants.…”

“…3 Among many social media platforms, Facebook can serve as a useful recruitment tool for researchers by providing customized paid advertisements and exposure rate check metrics. 3 Facebook is one of the largest global social networks and has 2.5 billion monthly active users, thereby offering researchers a platform to reach a large number of potential participants. 13 By using Facebook's micro-targeting algorithm, researchers can create various types of advertisements tailored to specific study objectives and targets.…”

“…13 Researchers can easily expose advertisements to potential subjects based on their personal characteristics, and due to the ubiquitous nature of Facebook, a target population can easily check these advertisements via their electronic devices. 3 Facebook recruitment has been successfully applied in studies for hard-to-reach populations, such as vaccine-hesitant parents, 14 low-income women, 15 immigrant health care providers, 16 and kidney transplant recipients, 17 and is less expensive and time consuming than other recruitment methods. 18 Few palliative care studies have used Facebook recruitment, especially for children with serious conditions and their family members.…”