Recruiting participants for community-based research: The Diabetic Retinopathy Awareness Program

PURPOSE: Recruiting participants is a major challenge for population studie s. We present the recruitment methods followed by the Diabetic Retinopathy Awareness Program (DRAP), a community-based, randomized, masked, controlled trial to meet and exceed its sample size goals. METHODS: A county-wide multi-media promotional campaign to recruit and enro ll participants in the trial was planned and executed from October 1993 thr ough April 1994, with the assistance of the local news media and community and professional groups. A toll free 800 number recruitment line was establ ished, and postage-paid recruitment postcards distributed. The trial was de signed to examine whether a mailed educational intervention could increase compliance with vision care guidelines among persons with diabetes in the c ommunity. RESULTS: A total of 2308 persons with diabetes were interviewed for eligibi lity and 813 enrolled in the intervention trial, exceeding the original rec ruitment goals of 1800 and 600, respectively. Those who completed the enrol lment interview reflected county demographics. During recruitment, newspape r, television and radio stories featured the study; pharmacies and physicia n offices displayed study materials; public service announcements appeared in local print and broadcast media. The largest single recruitment response was a local television news report, followed by a newspaper story. CONCLUSIONS: These experiences substantiate the need for a comprehensive co ordinated approach, using planned multiple sources, to achieve recruitment success. By engaging the lay and professional communities along with the me dia, recruitment costs can be kept to a minimum. Participant costs can be m inimized by employing a toll-free number and eliminating study participant travel, thus allowing for inclusion of traditionally underserved population s. This approach is applicable to other studies, where community-based part icipation is desired. Ann Epidemiol 2000;10:432-440. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scie nce Inc. All rights reserved.