TY - JOUR
T1 - Recruitment of African American and white postmenopausal women into clinical trials
T2 - The beneficial effects of soy trial experience
AU - Lindenstruth, Kathleen A.
AU - Curtis, Carol B.
AU - Allen, Jerilyn K.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2006/9
Y1 - 2006/9
N2 - Objective: To describe the strategies and costs associated with recruiting both African American and White postmenopausal women into a randomized controlled trial. Design: The Beneficial Effects of Soy Trial (BEST) was a randomized, controlled trial designed to determine the effects of a dietary soy supplement on lipoproteins, lipoprotein subclasses, and menopausal symptoms in African American and White postmenopausal women. The goal was to have ≥80 African American and ≥80 White women complete the study. Results: A total of 705 postmenopausal women (381 African American, 324 White) were screened, and of those, 217 were randomized (105 African American, 112 White), and 192 (91 African American, 101 White) completed the study. Direct mailings to targeted zip codes proved the most successful recruitment strategy for recruiting African Americans (52% of African Americans recruited) and the second most effective for recruiting Whites (32% of Whites recruited). Newspaper advertisements yielded the highest number of White participants (36%) but proved less successful for recruiting African Americans (8%). Airing advertisements on the radio was the second most effective strategy for recruiting African Americans (15%), yet it was one of the least effective approaches for recruiting Whites (5%). The total cost of recruitment was $49,036.25, which averaged $255.40 per participant who completed the study. The three most successful strategies, direct mailings, newspaper ads, and radio ads, were the three most expensive approaches but yielded 73% of all participants who completed the study. Conclusions: A variety of targeted recruitment strategies are required to ensure a diverse response to advertisements and promotions. Given the extra time and effort needed to recruit minorities, researchers must include adequate resources to cover the cost of recruitment in their budgets.
AB - Objective: To describe the strategies and costs associated with recruiting both African American and White postmenopausal women into a randomized controlled trial. Design: The Beneficial Effects of Soy Trial (BEST) was a randomized, controlled trial designed to determine the effects of a dietary soy supplement on lipoproteins, lipoprotein subclasses, and menopausal symptoms in African American and White postmenopausal women. The goal was to have ≥80 African American and ≥80 White women complete the study. Results: A total of 705 postmenopausal women (381 African American, 324 White) were screened, and of those, 217 were randomized (105 African American, 112 White), and 192 (91 African American, 101 White) completed the study. Direct mailings to targeted zip codes proved the most successful recruitment strategy for recruiting African Americans (52% of African Americans recruited) and the second most effective for recruiting Whites (32% of Whites recruited). Newspaper advertisements yielded the highest number of White participants (36%) but proved less successful for recruiting African Americans (8%). Airing advertisements on the radio was the second most effective strategy for recruiting African Americans (15%), yet it was one of the least effective approaches for recruiting Whites (5%). The total cost of recruitment was $49,036.25, which averaged $255.40 per participant who completed the study. The three most successful strategies, direct mailings, newspaper ads, and radio ads, were the three most expensive approaches but yielded 73% of all participants who completed the study. Conclusions: A variety of targeted recruitment strategies are required to ensure a diverse response to advertisements and promotions. Given the extra time and effort needed to recruit minorities, researchers must include adequate resources to cover the cost of recruitment in their budgets.
KW - Clinical trials
KW - Minority
KW - Recruitment
KW - Women
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34848920727&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=34848920727&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 17061750
AN - SCOPUS:34848920727
SN - 1049-510X
VL - 16
SP - 938
EP - 942
JO - Ethnicity and Disease
JF - Ethnicity and Disease
IS - 4
ER -