Recruitment strategies for family members in intensive care unit studies: A retrospective observational study

Family engagement in patient care has emerged as an important aspect of critical care delivery. There is a need for clinical trials to obtain robust evidence on family engagement interventions. However, limited evidence exists on effective strategies for recruiting family members of intensive care unit (ICU) patients in clinical trials.

The aim of this study was to describe and explore various recruitment approaches for enrolling family members of ICU patients as participants in clinical trials.

We reviewed recruitment approaches for three clinical studies (one prospective observational study; two randomised interventional trials) conducted in six Canadian ICUs involving family members of ICU patients. Variables collected included time of day approached, mode of initial contact, number of research personnel approaching a family member, method of consent, whether a white lab coat was worn by research personnel, and whether compensation was offered.

A total of 392 family members participated in a study out of 845 family members approached (overall recruitment rate of 46.4%). Recruitment rate was numerically higher for morning than for afternoon approach (81.3% vs. 62.4%), two recruiters than one (86.4% vs. 61.2%), initial contact by phone than in-person (57.6% vs. 44.9%), and in case of compensation offered than in case of none (44.1% vs. 38.0%). Recruitment percentages were numerically similar regardless of white lab coat use (62.5% vs. 67.8%) or consent method (paper or electronic; 65.3% vs. 63.9%). Recruitment rates were numerically higher for observational than for interventional studies (71.0% vs. 35.7%, respectively) and in medical-surgical ICUs than in cardiac ICUs (63.1% vs. 41.6%, respectively).

Several approaches had numerically higher recruitment percentage of family members as research participants in ICU studies. These findings can inform how we can optimise recruitment into family engagement interventions.