Ethnicity and recruitment rates in clinical research studies

The concept of a majority population in American is rapidly giving way to a collection of minority populations. To ensure representative study sample populations, nurse researchers must gain the ability to access many culturally and ethnically diverse groups. By examining common challenges to recruitment, many of the pitfalls of minority recuitment may be avoided. In looking at past clinical research studies and evaluating their successes and failures, nurse researchers can gain insight into how to design clinical research studies with sample populations representative of the increasingly diverse American population. Through careful planning, gaining knowledge of target populations. and inventive recruitment methods, the changing face of the American population can be represented in nursing research. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.