Recruiting Diverse Smokers: Enrollment Yields and Cost

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Behavioral Science
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Effective recruitment of diverse populations is crucial for tobacco control research.
• Vulnerable populations, including low-income, African American, Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ smokers, are often underrepresented.
• Identifying optimal recruitment strategies is essential to ensure research generalizability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify effective and cost-efficient recruitment methods for diverse adult cigarette smokers.
• To compare the effectiveness of various recruitment strategies across different demographic groups.

Main Methods:

• A randomized trial involving 2149 adult smokers in California and North Carolina.
• Utilized multiple recruitment methods including online platforms (Craigslist, Facebook), word-of-mouth, flyers, postcards, newspaper ads, and in-person recruitment.
• Analyzed recruitment source effectiveness and cost per participant across demographic subgroups.

Main Results:

• The most effective recruitment sources were Craigslist (28%), word-of-mouth (23%), Facebook (16%), and flyers/postcards (14%).
• Low-income and African American smokers favored interpersonal contact, while Hispanic and LGBTQ+ smokers were more likely recruited via Craigslist.
• Craigslist was the most cost-effective method ($3-7 per smoker), significantly cheaper than newspaper ads or in-person recruitment.

Conclusions:

• A multi-pronged recruitment approach incorporating interpersonal, online, and media strategies is necessary for diverse smoker inclusion.
• Craigslist and word-of-mouth emerge as particularly valuable, low-cost methods for recruiting a wide range of smokers.
• Targeted recruitment strategies may be needed to effectively reach specific vulnerable populations in tobacco control research.