Using incentives to recruit physicians into behavioral trials: lessons learned from four studies.

Area of Science:

• Medical research
• Behavioral science
• Trauma care

Background:

• Physician recruitment is crucial for behavioral trials in trauma triage.
• Understanding factors influencing participation is key to successful study completion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify effective recruitment strategies for physicians in trauma triage.
• To analyze the impact of different incentives and methods on recruitment rates.

Main Methods:

• Summarized recruitment data from four US-based behavioral trials (2010-2016).
• Compared in-person vs. email recruitment, pre-paid vs. conditional honoraria, and monetary vs. material incentives.
• Evaluated recruitment based on study tasks: questionnaires, virtual simulations, and interventions.

Main Results:

• Achieved an 80% recruitment rate with in-person approach, pre-paid material incentive (iPad), and intervention plus simulation task.
• Observed a 56% recruitment rate with email, conditional monetary incentive ($100 gift card), and questionnaire task.
• Recruited 989 physicians across various recruitment and study designs.

Conclusions:

• In-person recruitment and pre-paid material incentives significantly enhance physician participation in trauma triage research.
• Study design complexity and incentive type/timing influence recruitment success.