Comparing recruitment strategies in a study of acupuncture for chronic back pain.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Meeting recruitment goals is challenging for many clinical trials conducted in primary care populations. Little is known about how the use of different recruitment strategies affects the types of individuals choosing to participate or the conclusions of the study.

Methods

A secondary analysis was performed using data from participants recruited to a clinical trial evaluating acupuncture for chronic back pain among primary care patients in a large integrated health care organization. We used two recruitment methods: mailed letters of invitation and an advertisement in the health plan's magazine. For these two recruitment methods, we compared recruitment success (% randomized, treatment completers, drop outs and losses to follow-up), participant characteristics, and

SUBMITTER: Sherman KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2774333 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature