Recruitment methods for survey research: Findings from the Mid-South Clinical Data Research Network

Purpose: The objective of this study was to report survey response rates and demographic characteristics of eight recruitment approaches to determine acceptability and effectiveness of large-scale patient recruitment among various populations. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional analysis of survey data from two large cohorts. Patients were recruited from the Mid-South Clinical Data Research Network using clinic-based recruitment, research registries, and mail, phone, and email approaches. Response rates are reported as patients who consented for the survey divided by the number of eligible patients approached. Results: We contacted more than 90,000 patients and 13,197 patients completed surveys. Median age was 56.3 years (IQR 40.9, 67.4). Racial/ethnic distribution was 84.1% White, non-Hispanic; 9.9% Black, non Hispanic; 1.8% Hispanic; and 4.0% other, non-Hispanic. Face-to-face recruitment had the highest response rate of 94.3%, followed by participants who opted-in to a registry (76%). The lowest response rate was for unsolicited emails from the clinic (6.1%). Face-to-face recruitment enrolled a higher percentage of participants who self-identified as Black, non-Hispanic compared to other approaches (18.6% face-to-face vs. 8.4% for email). Conclusions: Technology-enabled recruitment approaches such as registries and emails are effective for recruiting but may yield less racial/ethnic diversity compared to traditional, more time-intensive approaches.