Learning Objective #1: Identify challenges to recruiting rural women into research protocols

Learning Objective #2: Describe strategies to increase recruitment and retention of rural women into research protocols

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Successful recruitment and retention of eligible and willing subjects is essential to any research study but is especially challenging with rural adults. The results of recruitment and retention efforts are influenced by a number of factors: the nature of the study, the recruitment and retention strategies employed, and the target population. Few studies have examined the challenges of recruiting and retaining rural women into research. The purpose of this presentation is to explore the lessons learned from the recruitment and retention of a sample of rural women into an intervention study to decrease cardiovascular risk factors. Recruitment strategies began at the community level with health centers and ended with individual subject recruitment and retention. Women (n = 789) ages 40-64 in 8 health centers in rural West Virginia were approached to participate in this study which involved interviews at baseline and six-months. Fifty-three percent (n = 418) agreed to participate and were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Of the people agreeing to participate, 395 (50%) provided complete data. Sixty-six percent (n = 262) were retained in the study. A comparison of characteristics between completers and non-completers indicated no differences in age, marital status, income, employment, or overall health status. Significant differences (p. = 0.01) occurred on two variables: women who smoked or ever had a diagnosis of cancer had significantly higher dropout rates. Only diagnosis of cancer independently explained non-retention. The greatest challenge was obtaining the follow-up data through phone interviews hence additional incentives were provided for returning the surveys by mail. Successful strategies included: creation of a culturally sensitive intervention from recommendations of focus groups in the communities, endorsement by community advisory boards, education and incentives for clinic staffs, utilization of nursing students familiar with the communities of interest, and patient incentives.