Table 1.
Recruitment Methods Reported as Most Commonly Used at CTSAs, by Type of Clinical Protocol, Results of a 2010 CTSA Consortium-Wide Survey (N = 46 Respondents From 44 CTSAs)a
| Participant recruitment method | No. (%) of respondents reporting method used for | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored studiesb | Non-sponsored studiesc | Studies at a dedicated center (e.g., vaccine or cancer center)d | |
| By individual research teams (PI and coordinator/nurses) | 40 (87) | 42 (91) | 36 (78) |
| Self-referral via Web sites and advertisements | 35 (76) | 33 (72) | 29 (63) |
| Referral by a primary caregiver | 29 (63) | 30 (65) | 30 (65) |
| Mixed model: by individual teams, and by central resources | 11 (24) | 7 (15) | 12 (26) |
| Referral through a volunteer registry | 8 (17) | 11 (24) | 7 (15) |
| By a central recruitment office/team at the center | 1 (2) | 1 (2) | 6 (13) |
| By a subcontract to an outside recruiting agency | 1 (2) | 1 (2) | 0 |
| Don’t know | 1 (2) | 1 (2) | 0 |
Abbreviations: CTSA indicates Clinical and Translational Science Award; CTSAs, CTSA sites.
Respondents were asked to indicate the three types of recruitment most commonly utilized for the specific study types at their institution; there are no common standards for aggregating this data. They were encouraged to access local content experts and/or host the available institution-local version of the survey to obtain accurate data.
Defined in the survey instructions as follows: “‘Sponsored’ protocols are studies for which the main decision-making authority lies with industry/pharmaceutical, or other outside collaborators and not with the Principal Investigator.”
Defined in the survey instructions as follows: “‘Non-sponsored’ protocols are studies for which the main decision-making authority is not held by an outside sponsor and is usually held by the Principal Investigator.”
No additional definition was provided for this study type.