RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES IN THE WOMENS HEALTH TRIAL - FEASIBILITY STUDYIN MINORITY POPULATIONS

The Women's Health Trial:Feasibility Study in Minority Populations (WH T:FSMP) examined the feasibility of recruiting postmenopausal women fr om a broad range of racial and socioeconomic backgrounds into a primar y prevention trial requiring marked reductions in dietary fat. Postmen opausal women aged 50-79 yr who had no history of cardiovascular disea se or cancer and who consumed 36% or more total energy from fat qualif ied to participate. We randomized the women into dietary intervention (60%) or control (40%) groups; we aimed to randomize 750 women in 18 m onths in each of the three clinical centers. All centers achieved goal s for randomization based on ethnicity, and two centers exceeded overa ll recruitment goals. The greatest source of randomized participants w as mass mailing, followed by items in the media, referrals, and commun ity outreach. Recruitment yields were generally similar for the ethnic groups but lower for less-educated participants. The experience of WH T:FSMP indicates that postmenopausal women from the African-American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white communities can be recruited into die tary intervention studies for the prevention of disease. (C) Elsevier Science Inc. 1998.