Social media recruitment of participants in a female stress urinary incontinence trial: A feasibility study

• Published in: European journal of obstetrics & gynecology and reproductive biology Vol. 299; pp. 253 - 257
• Main Authors: de Graaf, Boris C., Gerritse, Maria B.E., Michiels, Kim C.J., Kluivers, Kirsten B., van de Belt, Tom H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier B.V 01.08.2024
• Subjects: Costs; Participation; Recruitment; Social media; Urinary incontinence; Urogynecology; Urinary incontinence; Participation; Costs; Urogynecology; Social media; Recruitment
• ISSN: 0301-2115; 1872-7654; 1872-7654
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2024.06.028

•Social media recruitment is effective in a urogynecological questionnaire study.•Potential participant benefit can be an incentive in social media recruitment.•Online recruitment benefits from simplifying online enrolment procedure. This study explores the opportunities of social media advertisements as a recruitment strategy in women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI). This feasibility study was part of a larger clinical trial on the effects of a patient decision aid for SUI treatment. We started a 61-day social media advertisement campaign to recruit women for the trial. The primary outcome of our study was enrolment pace. Secondary outcomes involved cost per participant, baseline demographic comparison and ad campaign performance metrics. Additionally, we interviewed recruited participants to identify the facilitators and barriers of our approach. Ten participants were recruited, of whom 8 completed the full study protocol (2 questionnaires 6 months apart). The enrolment pace, 4.0 study participants per month, was faster compared to the average of 2.7 participants per month through conventional methods. The campaign reached 87 clicks on the advertisement per day and 1 % of these women showed interest in our study by contacting us. The overall conversion rate from click to full participation was 0.2 %. The costs per participant were €112. Besides higher age, the demographics of the social media recruited participants were comparable to the conventional inclusions. Qualitative analysis identified more user-oriented enrolment procedures and potential participant benefit as facilitators of social media recruitment. This study shows that social media recruitment can be feasible in trials for women with SUI. It can accelerate recruitment of eligible participants. Optimising the enrolment procedure to better meet participants’ needs and recruitment benefits may improve participation and cost-effectiveness. Trial registration ID 2017-3540