Recruitment of Young Adults: Lessons Learned From Research on Rural E-Cigarette Use and Cessation

Electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) use continues to grow in rural areas of the United States. In particular, young adults (18-24 years) in rural areas are a hard-to-reach population in regard to understanding the growing ENDS use trend. The purpose of this article was to describe recruitment strategies that were used for a series of ENDS-relevant projects for young adults in rural areas, report recruitment yields from these strategies, and provide methodological considerations to aid researchers in improving recruitment. We used descriptive statistical methods to characterize recruitment yields (responses to screening vs initial invites, and number of individuals who fully met eligibility criteria vs responses to screening) from 2 ENDS studies that focused on 3 main recruitment strategies, including student directories, leadership offices (eg, Student Affairs), and regional tobacco control support networks (eg, Area Health Education Centers) for reaching young adults in rural communities. The recruitment yield rates varied and ranged from 2% to 14% depending on strategy with leadership offices resulting in the highest recruitment yield. Methodological considerations by strategy are described in detail. Results of this study can be used to inform tailored recruitment strategies to increase the representation of rural young adults in ENDS or other tobacco research.