Using Facebook in Recruiting Kidney Transplant Recipients for a REDCap Study

Abstract

This web-based study recruited kidney transplant recipients from Facebook using three recruiting methods over a 5-week period. Participants completed 125 survey items via REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) survey. Facebook recruitment generated 153 eligible participants who completed surveys. The average survey response time was 15.07 min ( SD = 6.12; range: 4-43), with a low missing item rate (<5%). Facebook’s standard ads were most effective for recruiting subjects ( n = 78, 51%), followed by three targeted Facebook kidney transplant support groups ( n = 52, 34%) and a pay-to-promote study page ( n = 12, 7.8%). The average cost paid for each valid survey was US$2.19 through standard Facebook ads and US$2.92 from the study page. The cost for online survey completion is economically feasible even for those with limited funds. Issues related to online surveys including extreme survey response times and participant misrepresentation were reported in this study.

Attracting Users to Online Health Communities: Analysis of LungCancer.net’s Facebook Advertisement Campaign Data

“…Users who respond to a Facebook advertisement already demonstrate online engagement and may be more likely to contribute to an online health community than members recruited through other traditional strategies. Finally, given suggestions that Facebook advertising can effectively engage hardly reached populations in health education and intervention [15,18-20,27,31,32], additional research is needed to identify the sociodemographic characteristics of those engaged. Data presented here demonstrate a campaign that engaged primarily ageing female populations, representative of the current LungCancer.net site visitors (61% female and 55 years and above).…”

Facebook Recruitment for Children with Advanced Cancer and Their Parents: Lessons from a Web-based Pediatric Palliative Intervention Study

“…36 As Facebook recruitment relies on self-report, this method has a potential risk of inaccurate demographics or medical information. 17 Even though selection bias or misrepresentation can also occur using traditional recruitment methods, 17,18 researchers should be mindful of the potential impact on internal validity when interpreting the study results and using strategies to prevent these problems. Finally, Facebook advertisements can have a wide range of cost-effectiveness depending on the circumstances and target population.…”

“…13 Researchers can easily expose advertisements to potential subjects based on their personal characteristics, and due to the ubiquitous nature of Facebook, a target population can easily check these advertisements via their electronic devices. 3 Facebook recruitment has been successfully applied in studies for hard-to-reach populations, such as vaccine-hesitant parents, 14 low-income women, 15 immigrant health care providers, 16 and kidney transplant recipients, 17 and is less expensive and time consuming than other recruitment methods. 18 Few palliative care studies have used Facebook recruitment, especially for children with serious conditions and their family members.…”

Concepção e divulgação de um e-survey para pesquisa em administração aplicada em enfermagem

“…Outra vantagem é o acesso ser por meio de endereços eletrônicos que podem ser inseridos no corpo de um e-mail convite explicando a finalidade do questionário e informações de autoria. Além do que, atualmente, recursos cada vez mais inovadores estão sendo utilizados, como o preenchimento dos questionários em modo off-line, envio através de redes sociais, e aplicativos para preenchimento em dispositivos portáteis (mobiles) (6,8).…”