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Recruitment for successful health sciences research requires balancing efficiency, cost, accessibility, and reliability of available recruitment methods. Our case-control study used online recruitment methods, which broadened our reach to potential participants across the United States. However, this approach also exposed us to challenges associated with bot interference and fraudulent participation. This paper focuses on maintaining data integrity, specifically when utilizing online participant recruitment methods. Drawing from our experience, we propose The Swiss Cheese Model of Study Participant Fraud Prevention, adapted from Reason’s Swiss Cheese Model, and illustrate 10 prevention and verification measures that can be taken to minimize fraud in research studies that rely on online recruitment. We emphasize the importance of a layered approach, including carefully designed recruitment media and compensation protocols, vetting of participant eligibility, and data verification protocols to ensure the validity and reliability of research findings in the digital age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media recruitment and online surveys are valuable tools in social science research, but their effectiveness in reaching seldom-heard victims of gender violence in low-middle income (LMI) countries is under-explored. This empirical study aims to: (1) describe violence and abuse experiences and (2) assess the benefits and limitations of using social media to document violence against women and girls (VAWGs) in a LMI country to render visible the experiences of potentially isolated victims. A total of 453 Iranian women (aged 14–59, mean = 28.8, SD = 8.04) responded to an Instagram invitation for a study on women's health and violence exposure from February 2020 to January 2022. The questionnaire covered general gendered abuse, domestic violence (DV), and forced unemployment. The analysis was performed using Stata 17. Nearly all participants reported abuse, including sexual (85.0%), psychological (83.4%), and technology-facilitated (57.4%) abuse, with 77.4% experiencing multiple forms. The street (62%) and home (52.8%) were common abuse locations. The perpetrators included known individuals (75.9%) and strangers (80.8%), with 56.7% reporting abuse by both. DV was reported by 72.6%, mainly involving psychological (73.1%), physical (53.4%), and/or sexual (17.2%) violence, with fathers (47.8%), husbands (42.7%), and brothers (40.2%) as frequent perpetrators. A quarter reported forced unemployment. Those experiencing DV and/or forced unemployment showed higher depression levels, suicidal ideation, and lower marital satisfaction. The study suggests using social media recruitment for VAWG research but cautions against overgeneralising from these data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regular use of marijuana during adolescence is linked to academic underachievement, mental health problems, and delinquency. There are concerns that increased use of marijuana among adults, especially among caregivers, may increase rates of youth marijuana use. The current qualitative study used content analysis to examine what messages caregivers convey to their children about marijuana use, whether caregivers perceive barriers to such communication, whether they disclose their own use, and level of interest in supports or caregiving resources. Participants were recruited through paid Facebook and Instagram ads. Several methods were employed to achieve a gender-balanced and diverse sample of caregivers with youth aged 8–16 years, living in states with legalized marijuana, and who reported regular marijuana use (N = 70). Caregivers completed an online questionnaire including open- and closed-ended responses about their communication with their children. Results indicated that most caregivers conveyed largely positive messages about marijuana to their children, including marijuana as medicine, natural, and conditionally acceptable to use. Negative messages included caregivers instructing their teen not to use marijuana and that marijuana use is bad and/or unhealthy for children/teens. The majority of caregivers disclosed their own use to their children, and generally did not endorse barriers to communication. Approximately half of caregivers identified a desire for more tangible and applicable communication skills based on scientific evidence to facilitate conversations with their children about marijuana. Implications are discussed for future preventive interventions for those who regularly use marijuana and are caregivers of teens. Highlights: Marijuana-using caregivers presented positive attitudes and beliefs about marijuana. Marijuana-using caregivers wanted more scientific information about how to parent in marijuana-positive environments. Facebook recruiting was fast and cost-effective for collecting data on marijuana-using caregivers. Facebook recruiting was flexible for collecting diverse samples of caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media recruitment and online surveys are valuable tools in social science research, but their effectiveness in reaching seldom-heard victims of gender violence in low-middle income (LMI) countries is under-explored. This empirical study aims to: (1) describe violence and abuse experiences and (2) assess the benefits and limitations of using social media to document violence against women and girls (VAWGs) in a LMI country to render visible the experiences of potentially isolated victims. A total of 453 Iranian women (aged 14–59, mean = 28.8, SD = 8.04) responded to an Instagram invitation for a study on women’s health and violence exposure from February 2020 to January 2022. The questionnaire covered general gendered abuse, domestic violence (DV), and forced unemployment. The analysis was performed using Stata 17. Nearly all participants reported abuse, including sexual (85.0%), psychological (83.4%), and technology-facilitated (57.4%) abuse, with 77.4% experiencing multiple forms. The street (62%) and home (52.8%) were common abuse locations. The perpetrators included known individuals (75.9%) and strangers (80.8%), with 56.7% reporting abuse by both. DV was reported by 72.6%, mainly involving psychological (73.1%), physical (53.4%), and/or sexual (17.2%) violence, with fathers (47.8%), husbands (42.7%), and brothers (40.2%) as frequent perpetrators. A quarter reported forced unemployment. Those experiencing DV and/or forced unemployment showed higher depression levels, suicidal ideation, and lower marital satisfaction. The study suggests using social media recruitment for VAWG research but cautions against overgeneralising from these data.

Facebook is often cited in health-related research as a practical option to recruit participants into research studies, but issues with recruiting verifiable and qualified participants and unpredictable costs exist. The purpose of this paper is to describe a social network theory-guided, no-cost, Facebook recruitment strategy in comparison to a traditional recruitment campaign for a national online intervention study for grandmother caregivers (n = 348); 211 participants were recruited via Facebook, and 137 through traditional techniques. Participation rates did not vary by recruitment method. Facebook participants were slightly older, higher income, and more likely to be white and married, but did not differ in education levels. Our strategy quickly obtained an engaged and committed participant base. The application of social network theory to traditional recruitment strategies represents a novel way for researchers to recruit through Facebook and yield viable and engaged participants without investing in Facebook ads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Participant recruitment for clinical research studies remains a significant challenge for researchers. Novel approaches to recruitment are necessary to ensure that populations are easier to reach. In the context of rare diseases, social media provides a unique opportunity for connecting with patient groups that have representatively lower diagnosis rates when compared with more common diseases or illness. We describe the implementation of designing a patient-centered approach to message design for the purposes of recruiting patients for clinical research studies for rare disease populations. Methods Using an iterative research approach, we analyzed our previous experience of using web-based direct-to-patient recruitment methods to compare these online strategies with traditional center of excellence recruitment strategies. After choosing six research studies for inclusion in the previous study, in-depth, online interviews (n = 37) were conducted with patients represented in each disease category to develop and test recruitment message strategies for social media and a Web-based platform for patients to access study information and pre-screen. Finally, relationships were established with Patient Advocacy Groups representing each rare disease category to ensure further dissemination of recruitment materials via their own social media networks. Results Guided by social marketing theory, we created and tested various recruitment message designs. Three key message concepts preferred by patients emerged: (1) infographic; (2) positive emotional messages; and (3) educational information for sharing. A base study website was designed and created based on data from patient interviews. This website includes the option for potential participants to pre-screen and determine their eligibility for the study. Conclusions Study participants report wanting to be involved in the design and implementation of recruitment approaches for clinical research studies. The application of the aforementioned methods could aide in the evolution of clinical research practices for the recruitment of both rare and common diseases, where patient-centric approaches can help to create targeted messages designs that participants pre-test and support.

Background: The use of targeted advertisements on social media platforms (eg, Facebook and Instagram) has become increasingly popular for recruiting participants for online survey research. Many of these surveys offer monetary incentives for survey completion in the form of gift cards; however, little is known about whether the incentive amount impacts the cost, speed, and quality of data collection., Objective: This experiment addresses this gap in the literature by examining how different incentives in paid advertising campaigns on Instagram for completing a 10-minute online survey influence the response rate, recruitment advertising cost, data quality, and length of data collection., Methods: This experiment tested three incentive conditions using three Instagram campaigns that were each allocated a US $1400 budget to spend over a maximum of 4 days; ads targeted users aged 15-24 years in three nonadjacent designated market areas of similar size to avoid overlapping audiences. Four ad creatives were designed for each campaign; all ads featured the same images and text, but the incentive amount varied: no incentive, US $5 gift card, and US $15 gift card. All ads had a clickable link that directed users to an eligibility screener and a 10-minute online survey, if eligible. Each campaign ran for either the full allotted time (4 days) or until there were 150 total survey completes, prior to data quality checks for fraud., Results: The US $15 incentive condition resulted in the quickest and cheapest data collection, requiring 17 hours and ad spending of US $338.64 to achieve 142 survey completes. The US $5 condition took more than twice as long (39 hours) and cost US $864.33 in ad spending to achieve 148 survey completes. The no-incentive condition ran for 60 hours, spending nearly the full budget (US $1398.23), and achieved only 24 survey completes. The US $15 and US $5 incentive conditions had similar levels of fraudulent respondents, whereas the no-incentive condition had no fraudulent respondents. The completion rate for the US $15 and US $5 incentive conditions were 93.4% (155/166) and 89.8% (149/166), respectively, while the completion rate for the no-incentive condition was 43.6% (24/55)., Conclusions: Overall, we found that a higher incentive resulted in quicker data collection, less money spent on ads, and higher response rates, despite some fraudulent cases that had to be dropped from the sample. However, when considering the total incentive amounts in addition to the ad spending, a US $5 incentive appeared to be the most cost-effective data collection option. Other costs associated with running a campaign for a longer period should also be considered. A longer experiment is warranted to determine whether fraud varies over time across conditions., (©Jessica Sobolewski, Allie Rothschild, Andrew Freeman. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 04.07.2024.)

Enrolling adolescents and young adults (AYAs) in psychosocial research studies during cancer treatment is challenging. Successful AYA study recruitment not specific to oncology patients supports social media network advertising and recruitment strategies. However, this brief report describes several challenges to recruiting an appropriate and credible anonymous sample while conducting Institutional Review Board-approved research using social media recruitment. Namely, ethical oversight impeded access to AYAs with cancer and monetary remuneration allured many noneligible AYA participants who accessed the online survey. Lessons learned from this study provide caution for researchers interested in a similar approach and illustrate ways to determine credibility of findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Participant recruitment for clinical research studies remains a significant challenge for researchers. Novel approaches to recruitment are necessary to ensure that populations are easier to reach. In the context of rare diseases, social media provides a unique opportunity for connecting with patient groups that have representatively lower diagnosis rates when compared with more common diseases or illness. We describe the implementation of designing a patient-centered approach to message design for the purposes of recruiting patients for clinical research studies for rare disease populations.Methods: Using an iterative research approach, we analyzed our previous experience of using web-based direct-to-patient recruitment methods to compare these online strategies with traditional center of excellence recruitment strategies. After choosing six research studies for inclusion in the previous study, in-depth, online interviews (n = 37) were conducted with patients represented in each disease category to develop and test recruitment message strategies for social media and a Web-based platform for patients to access study information and pre-screen. Finally, relationships were established with Patient Advocacy Groups representing each rare disease category to ensure further dissemination of recruitment materials via their own social media networks.Results: Guided by social marketing theory, we created and tested various recruitment message designs. Three key message concepts preferred by patients emerged: (1) infographic; (2) positive emotional messages; and (3) educational information for sharing. A base study website was designed and created based on data from patient interviews. This website includes the option for potential participants to pre-screen and determine their eligibility for the study.Conclusions: Study participants report wanting to be involved in the design and implementation of recruitment approaches for clinical research studies. The application of the aforementioned methods could aide in the evolution of clinical research practices for the recruitment of both rare and common diseases, where patient-centric approaches can help to create targeted messages designs that participants pre-test and support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study intends to identify the impact social media recruitment (SMR) on job candidates‟ overall perception (OP) in Bangladesh. For this purpose, the authors have employed two independent variables of SMR: perceived advantage (PA) and perceived ease of use (PEU) and three dependent variables: perceived privacy (PP), perceived fairness (PF) and perceived ethics (PE). 877 graduates have been selected through judgment sampling as participants who have completed graduation recently and are looking for jobs. Simple linear and multiple linear regressions have been applied to analyze the data. Afterwards, it was revealedthat all the two independent variables are positively correlated to all the three dependent variables. But in case of PE, the relationship is weak. Further, PA and PEU are positively related to overall perception (OP). The results might be proven important for those academicians want to further investigate in this relatively untapped area as well as for the HR practitioners to understand the perceptions of job seekers regarding social media recruitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media has changed how to brand yourself, apply for jobs that are professionally satisfying and challenging, and provide career progression. This paper addresses social media marketing strategies relating to career advancement and focuses mainly on LinkedIn. It is mostly a descriptive paper, summarizing the main arguments in favor of social media as a useful tool of job search and career advancement. Recent job seekers are more sophisticated as to who they search for as employers. Social media and analytics now connect job candidates with career opportunities. How employers seek candidates through social media has caused disruption of traditional recruitment practices. The author responded to the hypothesis: Social media has disrupted traditional recruitment strategies by examining how students use these tools to find jobs that advance their careers. This paper introduces two new social media tools, the Job Search Cycle and the Job Search Model. This study was an introductory conceptual survey that may guide future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Illness blogs are a way seriously ill people communicate publicly about their illness journey. As communication about serious illness increases on social media, it is important to evaluate how this affects the family caregiver. However, identifying and accessing family caregivers remains challenging, especially via social media. Purpose: The aim of this article is to report the opportunities, challenges and lessons learned from using social media to recruit family caregivers. Methods: Recruitment methods included posting study invitations on illness blogs, advertising through Facebook and placing study fliers in the community. Results: Using social media to recruit was inexpensive and provided a wide geographical reach. One important finding was discovering the importance of using language in the recruitment materials that family caregivers could identify with to help deem themselves as eligible to participate in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recruitment into clinical trials is a challenging process, with as many as 40% of studies failing to meet their target sample sizes. The principles of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising rely upon novel marketing strategies. The ability to reach expansive audiences in the web-based realm presents a unique opportunity for researchers to overcome various barriers to enrollment in clinical trials. Research has investigated the use of individual web-based platforms to aid in recruitment and accrual into trials; however, a gap in the literature exists, whereby multiple mass communication platforms have yet to be investigated across a range of clinical trials., Objective: There is a need to better understand how individual factors combine to collectively influence trial recruitment. We aimed to test whether DTC recruitment of potentially eligible study participants via social media platforms (eg, Facebook [Meta Platforms Inc] and Twitter [Twitter Inc]) was an effective strategy or whether this acted as an enhancement to traditional (eg, email via contact registries) recruitment strategies through established clinical research sites., Methods: This study tested multiple DTC web-based recruitment efforts (Facebook, Twitter, email, and patient advocacy group [PAG] involvement) across 6 national and international research studies from 5 rare disease consortia. Targeted social media messaging, social media management software, and individual study websites with prescreening questions were used in the Protocol for Increasing Accrual Using Social Media (PRISM)., Results: In total, 1465 PRISM website referrals occurred across all 6 studies. Organic (unpaid) Facebook posts (676/1465, 46.14%) and Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network patient contact registry emails (461/1465, 31.47%) represented the most successful forms of engagement. PRISM was successful in accumulating a 40.1% (136/339) lead generation (those who screened positive and consented to share their contact information to be contacted by a clinical site coordinator). Despite the large number of leads generated from PRISM recruitment efforts, the number of patients who were subsequently enrolled in studies was low. Across 6 studies, 3 participants were ultimately enrolled, meaning that 97.8% (133/136) of leads dropped off., Conclusions: The results indicate that although accrual results were low, this is consistent with previously documented challenges of studying populations with rare diseases. Targeted messaging integrated throughout the recruitment process (eg, referral, lead, and accrual) remains an area for further research. Key elements to consider include structuring the communicative workflow in such a way that PAG involvement is central to the process, with clinical site coordinators actively involved after an individual consents to share their contact information. Customized approaches are needed for each population and research study, with observational studies best suited for social media recruitment. As evidenced by lead generation, results suggest that web-based recruitment efforts, coupled with targeted messaging and PAG partnerships, have the potential to supplement clinical trial accrual., (©Janelle Applequist, Cristina Burroughs, Peter A Merkel, Marc Rothenberg, Bruce Trapnell, Robert Desnick, Mustafa Sahin, Jeffrey Krischer. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 14.03.2023.)

Background: Periodic surveys of sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations are essential for monitoring and investigating health inequities. Recent legislative efforts to ban so-called conversion therapy make it necessary to adapt youth surveys to reach a wider range of SGM populations, including those <18 years of age and those who may not adopt an explicit two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (2S/LGBTQ) identity., Objective: We aimed to share our experiences in recruiting SGM youth through multiple in-person and online channels and to share lessons learned for future researchers., Methods: The Understanding Affirming Communities, Relationships, and Networks (UnACoRN) web-based survey collected anonymous data in English and French from 9679 mostly SGM respondents in the United States and Canada. Respondents were recruited from March 2022 to August 2022 using word-of-mouth referrals, leaflet distribution, bus advertisements, and paid and unpaid campaigns on social media and a pornography website. We analyzed the metadata provided by these and other online resources we used for recruitment (eg, Bitly and Qualtrics) and describe the campaign's effectiveness by recruitment venue based on calculating the cost per completed survey and other secondary metrics., Results: Most participants were recruited through Meta (13,741/16,533, 83.1%), mainly through Instagram; 88.96% (visitors: 14,888/18,179) of our sample reached the survey through paid advertisements. Overall, the cost per survey was lower for Meta than Pornhub or the bus advertisements. Similarly, the proportion of visitors who started the survey was higher for Meta (8492/18,179, 46.7%) than Pornhub (58/18,179, 1.02%). Our subsample of 7037 residents of Canada had a similar geographic distribution to the general population, with an average absolute difference in proportion by province or territory of 1.4% compared to the Canadian census. Our US subsample included 2521 participants from all US states and the District of Columbia. A total of CAD $8571.58 (the currency exchange rate was US $1=CAD $1.25) was spent across 4 paid recruitment channels (Facebook, Instagram, PornHub, and bus advertisements). The most cost-effective tool of recruitment was Instagram, with an average cost per completed survey of CAD $1.48., Conclusions: UnACoRN recruited nearly 10,000 SGM youth in the United States and Canada, and the cost per survey was CAD $1.48. Researchers using online recruitment strategies should be aware of the differences in campaign management each website or social media platform offers and be prepared to engage with their framing (content selection and delivery) to correct any imbalances derived from it. Those who focus on SGM populations should consider how 2S/LGBTQ-oriented campaigns might deter participation from cisgender or heterosexual people or SGM people not identifying as 2S/LGBTQ, if relevant to their research design. Finally, those with limited resources may select fewer venues with lower cost per completed survey or that appeal more to their specific audience, if needed., (©Jorge Andrés Delgado-Ron, Thiyaana Jeyabalan, Sarah Watt, Stéphanie Black, Martha Gumprich, Travis Salway. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 12.01.2023.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unique challenges for recruitment of adults and children into clinical research. The sudden onset of stay-at-home orders and social distancing enacted in much of the United States created sudden barriers for researchers to recruit participants in-person. Recognizing the critical need to understand the impact of COVID-19 on children and families in real time, studies required an alternative approach. The present study sought to develop methods and establish the feasibility of utilizing Facebook's targeted advertising to enroll schoolaged children and their parents for a study examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families. This study used an 8 week pay-per-click advertisement approach via Facebook for research recruitment. Parents of children age 8 to 17 were invited and asked to include their child. Standardized measures were included for parents and children. Zip code targeting was used to increase diversity in participants. The ad campaign reached 213,120, yielding 3563 clicks, 684 parent participants, 494 child participants and a 26% conversion rate over eight weeks. The cost-per-click was $0.64, and cost-per-participant was $3.30 and $4.60 for parents and children, respectively. This nationwide study successfully used social media to recruit a robust nationwide sample of parent-child dyads during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media recruitment mitigated typical time and engagement barriers for participants while also circumventing social and physical distancing orders due to the pandemic which allowed for real time assessment of the pandemic's effects on families. Future consideration should be given.to social media as a research recruitment methodology. • This study presents a, cost-effective, time-efficient approach to community based research involving parents and children • Social media recruitment circumvented barriers initiated by public health measures to evaluate real-time pandemic effects. • Zip-code targeting with Facebook Ads offers a potential strategy to increase research participant diversity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors are under-represented in research. Social media is increasingly used for recruitment given its ability to reach large audiences. Differences in participant characteristics and potential biases due to recruitment source are not well understood., Purpose: This study aimed to: (a) compare recruitment strategies (hospital-based v. social media) in enrollment metrics, and (b) among enrolled participants, evaluate group differences in patient characteristics and patient reported outcomes (PROs)., Methods: Preliminary data from a cancer and fertility study with female AYAs were evaluated. Hospital-based recruitment used electronic medical records (EMR) to identify eligible patients. Social media recruitment involved posting on partner organizations' social media outlets. PROs included validated measures related to the parent study. Descriptive statistics evaluated recruitment metrics. Independent samples t -tests and chi-square identified differences in participant characteristics and PROs based on recruitment., Results: Social media yielded a higher enrollment rate (37%; n  = 54/146) compared with hospital-based recruitment (7%; n  = 21/289) and required fewer study resources. Compared with hospital-based recruitment, participants from social media were more likely to be White ( p  = 0.01), with a longer time since treatment ( p  = 0.03); and reported higher levels of reproductive concern ( p  = 0.004) and negative mood ( p  = 0.02), and more negative illness perceptions ( p s < 0.05)., Conclusion: Recruitment via social media may be a more effective and efficient strategy compared with hospital-based methods. However, group differences were identified that could bias findings and limit generalizability. Advantages of social media should be considered with an understanding of how methodology may impact enrollment and results.

Background: Reproductive-aged women represent about half of those undergoing bariatric surgery in the United States. Obstetric and bariatric professional societies recommend that women avoid pregnancy for 12-18 months postoperatively due to concern for increased pregnancy risks, and that providers should counsel women about these recommendations and their contraceptive options. However, knowledge about women's experience with perioperative counseling and postoperative contraceptive use is limited.Objective: We sought to: (1) determine prevalence of perioperative contraceptive and pregnancy interval discussions among women who have recently undergone bariatric surgery; and (2) describe postoperative contraceptive use within the first year of surgery in this population.Study Design: We performed a cross-sectional study of US women, aged 18-45 years and recruited through Facebook, who underwent bariatric surgery within the last 24 months.Results: We enrolled 363 geographically diverse women. Three-quarters recalled perioperative pregnancy or contraceptive discussions, the majority with a bariatric provider. Half felt it was "very important" to discuss these issues perioperatively, and 41% of those who reported discussions wished they had had more. Of the 66% of women who reported using contraception in the first 12 months postoperatively, 27% used oral contraceptives and 26% used an intrauterine device. One third of contraceptive users who had undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, a combined restrictive-malabsorptive procedure, were using oral contraceptives. Perioperative contraceptive or pregnancy discussions were independently associated with increased postoperative contraceptive use (odds ratios, 2.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.5-4.3, P < .001).Conclusion: A substantial proportion of women who had undergone bariatric surgery reported having had no perioperative pregnancy or contraception counseling, and many women who had felt the discussions were insufficient. Those who had had perioperative discussions were more likely to use contraception postoperatively. Reproductive-aged women should be routinely counseled perioperatively about pregnancy and contraception in the context of their reproductive desires, so they can make informed decisions about perioperative pregnancy prevention and contraceptive method use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]