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Updated: Oct 26, 2026
Adapted Resistance Training Improves Strength in Eight Weeks in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis
Published on: January 29, 2016
Recruitment of African American Adults With Multiple Sclerosis Into Randomized Controlled Trials of Exercise
Whitney N Neal1, Denise Gomez2, Victoria Flores2
1Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
Background:
Exercise is effective for managing symptoms and improving quality of life among people with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, African Americans are underrepresented in MS exercise trials, partly due to limited recruitment resources and avenues tailored to this demographic. This paper describes participant outreach and recruitment strategies for an ongoing, remotely delivered, culturally tailored exercise training program for African American individuals with MS.
Methods:
Initially, a passive, indirect approach in the form of virtual outreach was employed, distributing study information through MS organizations, local experts, community leaders, patient representatives, and others in the southern United States. The effectiveness of these outreach and recruitment strategies in screening and enrolling was assessed using study coordinator and participant data.
Results:
Over 15 months, the outreach methods successfully recruited 80 African Americans with MS into the clinical trial. Following a delayed start and slower initial recruitment, active outreach strategies were incorporated (eg, in-person engagements at local MS events, recreation and community centers, health care facilities, and schools). Additional tactics included study website enhancements, an informational video, email templates, and updates to the study flyer. Most participants (64.9%) were recruited through MS organizations, with virtual platforms (ie, websites, social media; 14.3%) and support groups (9.1%) also contributing to recruitment success.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates the effectiveness of a multipronged, experience-informed approach for successfully enrolling African Americans with MS into clinical trials. While MS organizations proved pivotal for recruiting and enrolling African Americans with MS, leveraging diverse recruitment outlets highlighted the importance of multifaceted strategies for engaging participants from minority backgrounds in research.
