Recruiting research participants

Recruiting participants is the first step in the informed consent process. Any provision of information by the investigator to a potential participant or source of participant referrals begins the informing process and shapes expectations about the clinical research project. It is important to plan this part of the study in a way that maximizes potential for participant accrual. Recruitment should employ strategies most likely to identify, engage, and enlist eligible potential participants. Recruitment strategies that produce a large fraction of inquiries from ineligible individuals suggest that the recruiting net was spread too widely. Although recruitment needs to be efficient, recruitment strategies must avoid employing coercive elements in participant accrual.