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Time and cost for recruiting older adults
S Taylor-Davis1, H Smiciklas-Wright, A C Davis
1College of Applied Human Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523, USA.
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
|June 13, 1998
Summary
Recruiting older adults for home-based nutrition studies via mail and phone costs $8.56 per person. This two-step strategy achieved a 45% recruitment rate among those contacted.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Public Health
- Health Education
Background:
- Recruiting older adults for health studies presents unique challenges.
- Home-based interventions require efficient participant recruitment strategies.
- Understanding recruitment costs is crucial for study feasibility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the time and financial costs associated with recruiting older adults for a home-based nutrition education study.
- To evaluate a two-step recruitment strategy involving an introductory letter and a follow-up telephone call.
Main Methods:
- A random sample of 1300 individuals aged 60-74 years was selected from a rural tertiary care hospital database.
- Participants received an introductory letter followed by a recruitment telephone call one week later.
- Key metrics included recruitment rate, time per call, and overall cost per recruited subject.
Main Results:
- 83% of the 1300 individuals were successfully contacted by phone; 17% could not be reached.
- A total of 2895 calls were made to determine recruitment status.
- The recruitment rate among contacted individuals was 45%, with a total cost of $8.56 per recruited subject.
Conclusions:
- A two-step recruitment strategy (mailing plus telephone) is effective for engaging older adults in home-based studies.
- This method provides a cost-effective approach to participant recruitment in gerontological research.
- The established costs provide valuable data for planning similar health intervention studies.