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Recruiting phobic research subjects: effectiveness and cost.
T Kaakko1, H Murtomaa, P Milgrom
1Department of Dental Public Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195-7475, USA. kaakko@u.washington.edu
Anesthesia Progress
|August 10, 2001
Summary
Paid advertising, particularly bus and campus posters, proved most effective for recruiting dental injection phobics in a clinical trial. This strategy yielded the highest enrollment numbers and initial contacts for the study.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Psychology
- Medical Research Methodology
Background:
- Subject recruitment is a critical challenge in clinical trials.
- Dental injection phobia affects a significant population, necessitating effective treatment studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of different recruitment strategies for a clinical trial on dental injection phobia.
- To determine the most cost-effective methods for enrolling participants.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study involving 144 participants with dental injection phobia.
- Comparison of three recruitment strategies: paid advertising, free publicity, and professional referral.
- Analysis of enrollment numbers, initial contacts, and cost per subject.
Main Results:
- Paid advertising enrolled 63% of subjects, with bus advertisements (27.0%), campus posters (20.1%), and newspaper ads (13.2%) being most successful.
- Free publicity accounted for 18.8% and professional referrals for 14.6% of enrollments.
- The average cost per subject enrolled was $79 (1996 dollars).
Conclusions:
- Paid advertising, especially bus and poster advertisements, is highly effective for recruiting participants with dental injection phobia.
- Targeted paid advertising strategies can significantly improve clinical trial enrollment rates.
- Understanding recruitment dynamics is crucial for efficient clinical trial management.