Online social networks for patient involvement and recruitment in clinical research

Ryan, Gemma Sinead

doi:10.7748/nr2013.09.21.1.35.e302

Cited by 48 publications

(39 citation statements)

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“…For instance, social media seemed to be successful at recruiting hard-to-reach populations [16,17,28,31,32,36] and individuals with specific conditions or disorders [14,16,17,28,31,32]. This finding was in agreement with the findings of Park and Calamaro [12] and Ryan [13]. This is likely because in such a case it is difficult for any one conventional source to find a sufficient number of individuals, as was noted in the study by Johnson et al [16].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

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The Use of Social Media in Recruitment for Medical Research Studies: A Scoping Review

Topolovec-Vranic¹,

Natarajan²

2016

J Med Internet Res

429

328

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BackgroundRecruiting an adequate number of participants into medical research studies is challenging for many researchers. Over the past 10 years, the use of social media websites has increased in the general population. Consequently, social media websites are a new, powerful method for recruiting participants into such studies.ObjectiveThe objective was to answer the following questions: (1) Is the use of social media more effective at research participant recruitment than traditional methods? (2) Does social media recruit a sample of research participants comparable to that recruited via other methods? (3) Is social media more cost-effective at research participant recruitment than traditional methods?MethodsUsing the MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and EMBASE databases, all medical research studies that used social media and at least one other method for recruitment were identified. These studies were then categorized as either interventional studies or observational studies. For each study, the effectiveness of recruitment, demographic characteristics of the participants, and cost-effectiveness of recruitment using social media were evaluated and compared with that of the other methods used. The social media sites used in recruitment were identified, and if a study stated that the target population was “difficult to reach” as identified by the authors of the study, this was noted.ResultsOut of 30 studies, 12 found social media to be the most effective recruitment method, 15 did not, and 3 found social media to be equally effective as another recruitment method. Of the 12 studies that found social media to be the best recruitment method, 8 were observational studies while 4 were interventional studies. Of the 15 studies that did not find social media to be the best recruitment method, 7 were interventional studies while 8 were observational studies. In total, 8 studies stated that the target population was “hard-to-reach,” and 6 of these studies found social media to be the most effective recruitment method. Out of 14 studies that reported demographic data for participants, 2 studies found that social media recruited a sample comparable to that recruited via traditional methods and 12 did not. Out of 13 studies that reported cost-effectiveness, 5 studies found social media to be the most cost-effective recruitment method, 7 did not, and 1 study found social media equally cost-effective as compared with other methods.ConclusionsOnly 12 studies out of 30 found social media to be the most effective recruitment method. There is evidence that social media can be the best recruitment method for hard-to-reach populations and observational studies. With only 30 studies having compared recruitment through social media with other methods, more studies need to be done that report the effectiveness of recruitment for each strategy, demographics of participants recruited, and cost-effectiveness of each method.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Literature reviews on the role of social media in recruitment have been done by Park and Calamaro [12] and Ryan [13]. These reviews also identified social media as being effective in recruiting both hard-to-reach populations and adolescents and young adults (AYAs), as well as being cost-effective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Social Media in Recruitment for Medical Research Studies: A Scoping Review

Topolovec-Vranic¹,

Natarajan²

2016

J Med Internet Res

429

328

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“…7 In the area of health research, use of Facebook has largely centered on recruitment of adults for cross-sectional surveys. Examples include studies of nutrition education programming with low-income Pennsylvania residents; 8 adult therapy preferences; 9 adult sexual orientation; 10 and birth preferences of pregnant women, with costs of $11.11 per enrollee.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facebook recruitment of young adult smokers for a cessation trial: Methods, metrics, and lessons learned

Ramo

Rodriguez

Chavez

et al. 2014

Internet Interventions

188

184

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Further understanding is needed of the functionalities and efficiency of social media for health intervention research recruitment. Facebook was examined as a mechanism to recruit young adults for a smoking cessation intervention. An ad campaign targeting young adult smokers tested specific messaging based on market theory and successful strategies used to recruit smokers in previous clinical trials (i.e. informative, call to action, scarcity, social norms), previously successful ads, and general messaging. Images were selected to target smokers (e.g., lit cigarette), appeal to the target age, vary demographically, and vary graphically (cartoon, photo, logo). Facebook’s Ads Manager was used over 7 weeks (6/10/13 – 7/29/13), targeted by age (18–25), location (U.S.), and language (English), and employed multiple ad types (newsfeed, standard, promoted posts, sponsored stories) and keywords. Ads linked to the online screening survey or study Facebook page. The 36 different ads generated 3,198,373 impressions, 5,895 unique clicks, at an overall cost of $2,024 ($0.34/click). Images of smoking and newsfeed ads had the greatest reach and clicks at the lowest cost. Of 5,895 unique clicks, 586 (10%) were study eligible and 230 (39%) consented. Advertising costs averaged $8.80 per eligible, consented participant. The final study sample (n=79) was largely Caucasian (77%) and male (69%), averaging 11 cigarettes/day (SD=8.3) and 2.7 years smoking (SD=0.7). Facebook is a useful, cost-effective recruitment source for young adult smokers. Ads posted via newsfeed posts were particularly successful, likely because they were viewable via mobile phone. Efforts to engage more ethnic minorities, young women, and smokers motivated to quit are needed.

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“…Several recent efforts have successfully used Facebook to recruit young adults including sexual minority young adults, into research studies for a range of health-related topics [16-25]. Several of these studies reported that Facebook was a convenient and cost-efficient strategy for recruiting young adults [17,18,20,22]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recruiting Young Gay and Bisexual Men for a Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Intervention Through Social Media: The Effects of Advertisement Content

Reiter¹,

Katz²,

Bauermeister³

et al. 2017

JMIR Public Health Surveill

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BackgroundWeb-based approaches, specifically social media sites, represent a promising approach for recruiting young gay and bisexual men for research studies. Little is known, however, about how the performance of social media advertisements (ads) used to recruit this population is affected by ad content (ie, image and text).ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different images and text included in social media ads used to recruit young gay and bisexual men for the pilot test of a Web-based human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination intervention.MethodsIn July and September 2016, we used paid Facebook advertisements to recruit men who were aged 18-25 years, self-identified as gay or bisexual, US resident, and had not received HPV vaccine. A 4x2x2 factorial experiment varied ad image (a single young adult male, a young adult male couple, a group of young adult men, or a young adult male talking to a doctor), content focus (text mentioning HPV or HPV vaccine), and disease framing (text mentioning cancer or a sexually transmitted disease [STD]). Poisson regression determined whether these experimental factors affected ad performance.ResultsThe recruitment campaign reached a total of 35,646 users who viewed ads for 36,395 times. This resulted in an overall unique click-through rate of 2.01% (717/35,646) and an overall conversion rate of 0.66% (241/36,395). Reach was higher for ads that included an image of a couple (incidence rate ratio, IRR=4.91, 95% CI 2.68-8.97, P<.001) or a group (IRR=2.65, 95% CI 1.08-6.50, P=.03) compared with those that included an image of a single person. Ads that included an image of a couple also had a higher conversion rate (IRR=2.56, 95% CI 1.13-5.77, P=.02) than ads that included an image of a single person. Ads with text mentioning an STD had a higher unique click-through rate compared with ads with text mentioning cancer (IRR=1.34, 95% CI 1.06-1.69, P=.01). The campaign cost a total of US $413.72 and resulted in 150 eligible and enrolled individuals (US $2.76 per enrolled participant).ConclusionsFacebook ads are a convenient and cost-efficient strategy for reaching and recruiting young gay and bisexual men for a Web-based HPV vaccination intervention. To help optimize ad performance among this population, researchers should consider the importance of the text and image included in the social media recruitment ads.

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Online social networks for patient involvement and recruitment in clinical research

Abstract: AimsThis paper reviews current literature and discusses the potential for Social Networking websites for engaging patients and the public along with recruitment and retention of participants in clinical research. Background

Cited by 48 publications

References 0 publications

The Use of Social Media in Recruitment for Medical Research Studies: A Scoping Review

The Use of Social Media in Recruitment for Medical Research Studies: A Scoping Review

Facebook recruitment of young adult smokers for a cessation trial: Methods, metrics, and lessons learned

Recruiting Young Gay and Bisexual Men for a Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Intervention Through Social Media: The Effects of Advertisement Content

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