Overcoming subject recruitment challenges: strategies for successful collaboration with novice research agencies

In most studies, the investigator reaches out to locate potential research subjects using direct strategies such as targeted radio advertising, recruitment posters, and newspaper advertisements. However, other studies may depend on indirect methods of locating potential subjects and work through intermediary contacts in clinics and hospital outpatient departments. Some agency personnel may not have had prior experience with clinical research protocols and may be unfamiliar with screening potential subjects; these personnel are likely to be employed in agencies unaffiliated with academic health sciences centers. In cases in which agency staff members are new to clinical research, special attention is required to keep agency personnel updated about the status of the research and subject recruitment efforts. This article provides an overview of practical tips designed to engage and sustain the interest of novice research agencies in subject recruitment. The article concludes with a case overview of recruitment issues that occurred during a clinical trial addressing occupational low back pain.