Analysis of four recruitment methods for obtaining normative data through a Web-based questionnaire: a pilot study

Area of Science:

• Health outcomes research
• Survey methodology
• Clinical research recruitment

Background:

• Diverse participant samples are crucial for high-quality normative data in health outcomes research.
• Online recruitment strategies, including social media, offer potential for broad reach but their effectiveness in achieving sample diversity is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pilot test four distinct recruitment methods: flyers, email, Facebook, and an institution-specific clinical research website.
• To evaluate the ability of each method to generate a participant sample representative of the general US population for normative data collection.

Main Methods:

• Utilized flyers, email, Facebook, and a clinical research website to recruit participants for an online Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ) survey.
• Collected demographic and comorbidity data alongside MHQ responses.

Main Results:

• The institution-specific clinical research website recruited the largest number of participants, with an age distribution mirroring the US population.
• Facebook effectively recruited younger adults, while email was successful for older adults.
• No tested recruitment method achieved an ethnically diverse sample.

Conclusions:

• Achieving a truly representative US population sample for normative data is challenging.
• Combining recruitment methods, such as clinical research sites and social media (e.g., Facebook), alongside traditional approaches (email, flyers), can enhance recruitment for specific demographics.
• Further research is needed to develop strategies for recruiting ethnically diverse populations.