Accelerating implementation of adolescent digital health prevention programs: analysis of insights from Australian stakeholders

Raeside, Rebecca; Todd, Allyson; Sim, Kyra A.; Kang, Melissa; Mihrshahi, Seema; Gardner, Lauren A.; Champion, Katrina E.; Skinner, John; Laranjo, Liliana; Steinbeck, Katharine; Redfern, Julie; Partridge, Stephanie R.

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1389739

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…It is important that high quality public health interventions that focus on primary prevention of chronic diseases are tested with adolescents through clinical trials. However, challenges exist with engaging adolescents in preventive interventions including their health system disengagement making them hard to access to deliver such interventions [3], a prevention lens not being appealing to adolescents [4], and their evolving need for autonomy in providing informed consent [5]. Innovative methods to engage adolescents within preventive interventions are needed that can overcome identified barriers.…”

Section: Original Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Virtual clinical trials have the potential to address challenges in traditional site-based recruitment and be cost-effective [20]. Yet, prevention programs among adolescents are known to have the lowest recruitment rates [32], and stakeholders have identified that a prevention lens may not be engaging for adolescents [4]. In the Health4Me Study, a digital preventive intervention, we found that the digital recruitment strategies used were effective, recruiting 390 adolescents in less than 12 months.…”

Section: Comparison With Prior Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recruitment of adolescents to virtual clinical trials: experiences from the Health4Me clinical trial (Preprint)

Raeside,

Todd,

Barakat

et al. 2024

Preprint

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BACKGROUND Preventive interventions are needed to provide targeted health support to adolescents to improve health behaviors. Engaging adolescents in preventive interventions remains a challenge, highlighting the need for innovative recruitment strategies. Given adolescents’ lives are intertwined with digital technologies, attention should be focused on these avenues for recruitment. The evolving nature of clinical trials, including the emergence of virtual clinical trials, require new recruitment approaches, which must be evaluated. OBJECTIVE To examine the effectiveness and cost of various digital recruitment strategies for recruiting adolescents to a virtual clinical trial, and to evaluate the progression of participants from screening to enrolment and explore factors associated with non-participation. We do this using the example of the Health4Me Study, a preventive digital health intervention to improve physical activity and nutrition behaviors among adolescents 12-18 years old. METHODS Participants were recruited into the Health4Me Study via social media advertisements on various contemporary platforms, emails to schools, emails to contacts within known networks and emails to relevant youth organizations. Data was collected from social media advertisements, screening, and recruitment logs. Data analysis included summary and descriptive statistics, as well as Chi-Squared tests to explore factors associated with non-participation. RESULTS From 2369 expressions of interest, 390 (16.4%) participants were enrolled. A total of 19 advertisements were placed on social media, and 385 promotional emails were sent to schools, contacts within known networks, and relevant youth organizations. Social media advertisements reached 408,077 unique accounts. Advertisements mostly reached those living in populous states in Australia (75% of unique accounts [306,489/408,077]) and those identifying as female (43.5% of unique accounts [177,698/408,077]). 25% of advertisements were delivered to accounts with uncategorised genders (101,907/408,077). Total cost per participant enrolled was AUD $3.89 (USD $2.58). Most participants (85.9%, 1980/2305) found out about the study through Instagram. Differences in screening characteristics between eligible participants who did and did not enrol were found to be statistically significant for gender (P=.02) with fewer males and more individuals reporting their gender as 'Other' enrolling than expected than by chance alone. Recruitment method also differed (P<.001), with fewer participants enrolling through Instagram and more enrolling through other methods (e.g. known networks, word of mouth) than expected by chance alone. CONCLUSIONS In this study we show that virtual clinical trial recruitment was found to be low-cost with the potential to increase trial participation. Social media was the most effective recruitment method, reaching all states and territories, including hard-to-reach populations. Future action is needed to explore recruitment methods which are more effective for males and to build trust among adolescents regarding clinical trial recruitment via social media.

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Section: Original Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Comparison With Prior Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recruitment of adolescents to virtual clinical trials: experiences from the Health4Me clinical trial (Preprint)

Raeside,

Todd,

Barakat

et al. 2024

Preprint

Self Cite

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Implementation of a digital health intervention for young people exposed to Technology Assisted Sexual Abuse

Quayle,

Schwannauer,

Varese

et al. 2024

Child Abuse & Neglect

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Recruitment of Adolescents to Virtual Clinical Trials: Recruitment Results From the Health4Me Randomized Controlled Trial

Raeside,

Todd,

Barakat

et al. 2024

JMIR Pediatr Parent

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Background Preventive interventions are needed to provide targeted health support to adolescents to improve health behaviors. Engaging adolescents in preventive interventions remains a challenge, highlighting the need for innovative recruitment strategies. Given adolescents’ lives are intertwined with digital technologies, attention should be focused on these avenues for recruitment. The evolving nature of clinical trials, including the emergence of virtual clinical trials, requires new recruitment approaches, which must be evaluated. Objective This study aimed to examine the effectiveness and cost of various digital recruitment strategies for recruiting adolescents to a virtual clinical trial, evaluate the progression of participants from screening to enrollment, and explore factors associated with nonparticipation. This was conducted using data from the Health4Me Study, a preventive digital health intervention to improve physical activity and nutrition behaviors among adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. Methods Participants were recruited into the Health4Me Study via social media advertisements on various contemporary platforms, emails to schools, emails to contacts within known networks, and emails to relevant youth organizations. Data were collected from social media advertisements, screening, and recruitment logs. Data analysis included summary and descriptive statistics, as well as chi-square tests to explore factors associated with nonparticipation. Results From 2369 expressions of interest, 390 (16.4%) participants were enrolled. A total of 19 advertisements were placed on social media, and 385 promotional emails were sent to schools, contacts within known networks, and relevant youth organizations. Social media advertisements reached 408,077 unique accounts. Advertisements mostly reached those living in populous states in Australia (306,489/408,077, 75.11% of unique accounts) and those identifying as female (177,698/408,077, 43.55% of unique accounts). A total of 24.97% (101,907/408,077) of advertisements were delivered to accounts with uncategorized genders. The total cost per participant enrolled was Aus $3.89 (approximately US $2.58). Most participants (1980/2305, 85.90%) found out about this study through Instagram. Differences in screening characteristics between eligible participants who did and did not enroll were found to be statistically significant for gender (P=.02), with fewer males and more individuals reporting their gender as “other” enrolling than expected by chance alone. The recruitment method also differed (P<.001), with fewer participants enrolling through Instagram and more enrolling through other methods (eg, known networks or word of mouth) than expected by chance alone. Conclusions This study found that virtual clinical trial recruitment was found to be low-cost, with the potential to increase trial participation. Social media was the most effective recruitment method, reaching all states and territories, including hard-to-reach populations. Future action is needed to explore recruitment methods that are more effective for males and to build trust among adolescents regarding clinical trial recruitment via social media.

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Accelerating implementation of adolescent digital health prevention programs: analysis of insights from Australian stakeholders

Cited by 4 publications

References 32 publications

Recruitment of adolescents to virtual clinical trials: experiences from the Health4Me clinical trial (Preprint)

Recruitment of adolescents to virtual clinical trials: experiences from the Health4Me clinical trial (Preprint)

Implementation of a digital health intervention for young people exposed to Technology Assisted Sexual Abuse

Recruitment of Adolescents to Virtual Clinical Trials: Recruitment Results From the Health4Me Randomized Controlled Trial

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