A multistep recruitment strategy to a participant-intensive clinical trial

Adequate access to well-informed study participants is key to rapid recruitment and retention to randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs). We describe a novel seven-step recruitment process for enrolling participants in a recently completed drug and exercise RCT in fibromyalgia. The majority decided not to participate during the screening process. Approximately 7% dropped out after beginning the intervention. All participants were enrolled within 14 months, which was 21 months ahead of the projected timeline. We suggest that this strategy ultimately decreased costs, made efficient use of research staff, and provided a consistent message to participants about the RCT.