Using Social Media to Engage and Enroll Underrepresented Populations: Longitudinal Digital Health Research.

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Equity
• Research Methodology

Background:

• Digital health research faces challenges in including marginalized populations due to access, literacy, and trust barriers.
• Alternative engagement methods are crucial for sustainable, diverse participation in digital health research.
• Ensuring equitable outcomes requires technologies and research inclusive of all communities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze socioeconomic and demographic differences in participants recruited via digital and traditional methods in a digital pregnancy study.
• To evaluate the efficiency of social media outreach for recruiting and retaining underrepresented populations (URPs) in digital health research.

Main Methods:

• The Better Understanding the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy (BUMP) study utilized a prospective, observational cohort design with 524 women (aged 18-40).
• Recruitment strategies included patient portals, paid/unpaid social media ads, and community health partnerships.
• Data were collected on enrollment, engagement, and retention rates across different recruitment channels.

Main Results:

• Social media recruitment yielded a 23.6% enrollment rate for URPs.
• Paid social media ads, particularly on Instagram, showed higher enrollment and retention rates compared to unpaid ads and community partnerships.
• Despite initial engagement, retention rates for non-White participants were lower across all recruitment methods.

Conclusions:

• Social media recruitment offers a viable strategy for engaging URPs in digital health research, with paid ads demonstrating particular effectiveness.
• Community-based recruitment methods showed lower engagement, enrollment, and retention.
• Tailored strategies are essential to improve URP enrollment and retention, addressing disparities in digital health research participation.