The art of advertising for research subjects

Factors affecting recruitment into depression trials: Systematic review, meta-synthesis and conceptual framework

BACKGROUND

Depression is common and clinical trials are crucial for evaluating treatments. Difficulties in recruiting participants into depression trials are well-documented, yet no study has examined the factors affecting recruitment. This review aims to identify the factors affecting recruitment into depression trials and to develop a conceptual framework through systematic assessment of published qualitative research.

METHODS

Systematic review and meta-synthesis of published qualitative studies. Meta-synthesis involves a synthesis of themes across a number of qualitative studies to produce findings that are "greater than the sum of the parts". ASSIA, CINAHL, Embase, Medline and PsychInfo were searched up to April 2013. Reference lists of included studies, key publications and relevant reviews were also searched. Quality appraisal adopted the "prompts for appraising qualitative research".

RESULTS

7977 citations were identified, and 15 studies were included. Findings indicate that the decision to enter a depression trial is made by patients and gatekeepers based on the patient׳s health state at the time of being approached to participate; on their attitude towards the research and trial interventions; and on the extent to which patients become engaged with the trial. Our conceptual framework highlights that the decision to participate by both the patient and the gatekeeper involves a judgement between risk and reward.

LIMITATIONS

Only English language publications were included in this review.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from this review have implications for the design of interventions to improve recruitment into depression trials. Such interventions may aim to diminish the perceived risks and increase the perceived rewards of participation.

Recruitment strategies for conducting research on women's retirement

Currently, little information is available to inform new or returning researchers about designing and conducting research on the topic of women and retirement. Few published studies describe how to access non-probability samples of retired women, yet preliminary evidence suggests women possess distinctive characteristics that affect their retirement as well as complicate the recruitment process. In this article, certain challenges and benefits of conducting research with women in retirement are presented. Next, important issues to consider prior to sampling retired women are described. Finally, specific strategies for identifying and recruiting community-dwelling retired women are presented and discussed.

Ethnicity and recruitment rates in clinical research studies

The concept of a majority population in America is rapidly giving way to a collection of minority populations. To ensure representative study sample populations, nurse researchers must gain the ability to access many culturally and ethnically diverse groups. By examining common challenges to recruitment, many of the pitfalls of minority recruitment may be avoided. In looking at past clinical research studies and evaluating their successes and failures, nurse researchers can gain insight into how to design clinical research studies with sample populations representative of the increasingly diverse American population. Through careful planning, gaining knowledge of target populations, and inventive recruitment methods, the changing face of the American population can be represented in nursing research.

Targeting intermediaries to recruit older women for qualitative, longitudinal research

Crafting a comprehensive recruitment plan for qualitative, longitudinal research requires consideration of many issues, particularly when a culturally diverse sample of older women is to be recruited for interviews conducted in their homes. The development of a detailed recruitment plan for a phenomenological investigation of older widows' experience of home care is described. The plan's two inter-related foci (targeted intermediaries and sequential phases) are presented. Strategies used to recruit participants through each targeted intermediary are explained, and the implementation of the sequential phases of the recruitment process is described. Successes and difficulties are considered in relation to the literature on recruiting older adults for research.

Creating alternative immunization clinics to maintain and improve community immunization rates

Immunization campaigns are among the most effective means for improving community health, yet underimmunized groups leave communities at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases. In 1993, the Childhood Immunization Initiative (CII) was implemented to address this risk. The goal of the CII, to achieve immunization coverage 90% or greater among 2-year-old children, was reached nationwide by 1996. However, individual states ranged from 81% to 99% for specific vaccines (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1997b). The work of the CII is ongoing and was expanded in 1996 to address the immunization needs of adolescents. The purpose of this article is to present a model for providing immunization services in alternative sites, in which the community health nurse takes the service to the people. Building linkages with local communities, preparing the clinic site and supplies, arranging for staffing of an alternative clinic, and evaluation after service provision are key elements to a successful outreach clinic.