Recruitment in a research study via chatbot versus telephone outreach: a randomized trial at a minority-serving institution.

ABSTRACT: Chatbots are software applications to simulate a conversation with a person. The effectiveness of chatbots in facilitating the recruitment of study participants in research, specifically among racial and ethnic minorities, is unknown. The objective of this study is to compare a chatbot versus telephone-based recruitment in enrolling research participants from a predominantly minority patient population at an urban institution. We randomly allocated adults to receive either chatbot or telephone-based outreach regarding a study about vaccine hesitancy. The primary outcome was the proportion of participants who provided consent to participate in the study. In 935 participants, the proportion who answered contact attempts was significantly lower in the chatbot versus telephone group (absolute

SUBMITTER: Kim YJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8714282 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature