Publication of recruitment methods in focus group research of minority populations with chronic disease: a systematic review.

The relative effectiveness of strategies to recruit minority patients, populations traditionally difficult to engage in research, for focus groups is unclear. We conducted a systematic review of all peer-reviewed focus group studies targeting Black and/or Hispanic participants with diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and/or cardiovascular disease reported in Pubmed, MEDLINE, and CINAHL from January 1993 through August 2009. Reviewers extracted data on each study's characteristics, methods, and outcomes. Forty-five studies were eligible. While most described recruitment strategies, only 21 presented any metric of their success in recruiting participants. Among studies with high recruitment success rates, no discernable trends regarding effectiveness of recruitment strategies were found, largely due to variation in reporting of the use of incentives and follow-up mechanisms. Increased rigor is necessary for describing methodology of focus group research in the literature. It is incumbent upon researchers to ensure clear and detailed methodology in qualitative articles.