Recruitment strategies for an acupuncture randomized clinical trial of reproductive age women.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the most effective recruitment strategies for an acupuncture clinical trial of reproductive age women.
DESIGN: The underlying study is an acupuncture randomized clinical trial for an ovulatory disorder that affects approximately 6.5% of reproductive age women (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). Study participation involved 2 months of intervention and 3 months of follow-up with US$170 compensation. Success of each recruitment method used during the first 37 study months was analyzed.
SETTING: Clinical trial in the Dept. of OB/GYN at the University of Virginia, US. The original geographic residency target was an 80 mile radius around a college town in Virginia (population 155,000), and was expanded to the state capital (population 850,000) in recruitment Year 2. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of study inquiries (phone calls or emails) over time and by recruitment source.
RESULTS: In the first 37 months of recruitment (January 2006-January 2009), there were 800 study inquiries (582 by phone, 218 by email), of which 749 were screened via telephone questionnaire. The most successful recruitment methods were flyers (28% of inquiries and 26% of participants) and direct mailing to targeted zip codes (26% and 27%, respectively). The direct mailing cost US$110/inquiry, while the flyers cost less than US$300 in total. Study inquiries were least likely in May and November. Almost all prospective participants (94%) were acupuncture-naive.
CONCLUSIONS: Posters/flyers and direct mailings proved to be the most successful recruitment methods for this CAM study. Active recruitment with multiple methods was needed for continual enrollment.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes