Table 3.
Comparison of the most commonly cited strategies and design features to maximise recruitment and Booster project examples
| Feature/strategy | Booster project examples |
|---|---|
| Newsletters/mail-outs/flyers (to clinical staff and/or patients) | √ Mail-outs to participants |
| Regular visits/phone calls to wards/sites/practices | √Visits were made to local GP surgeries, health trainers/champions and one-stop health shops |
| Posters/information leaflets in clinics/wards/notes | √ Poster produced and displayed in GP surgeries |
| Inclusion criteria changed/protocol amended | √ |
| Presentations to appropriate groups (e.g., at consults, meetings/community-based physiotherapists) | √ Presentations made to relevant organisations, NHS, local authority on becoming involved |
| Resource manual for site staff/trained staff in disease area/procedures being investigated/role-play exercises/study day/workshops for recruiters | √ Information provided to research assistants on recruitment |
| Advertisement/articles in newspapers/journals, radio interviews | √ Trial manager publicity in the local press, newspaper and radio |
| Presentations at national/international meetings | x |
| Employed extra staff | √ Administrative assistants hired |
| Investigators/recruiting staff meetings | √ Monthly meetings between trial manager and research assistants (in addition to monthly trial management group meetings), weekly email updates on recruitment |
| Training/information videos | x |
| Incentives for recruiters (e.g., prize draw) | √ Team rewarded at recruitment milestones |
| Trial material revised/simplified/customised for specific sites | √ Participant information sheet altered due to reflect added secondary recruitment pathways |
| Visits to centres by PIs/senior members of study group | √ Visits to local GP surgeries and to community venues |
| Repeated contact by phone/letter to individuals/sites | √ Reminder phone calls to participants |
| Increased/changed time points when information provided to potential participants | √ Additional mail-out conducted: extra letter to introduce main trial before screening call |
| Supportive statements from opinion leaders | x Supportive statements from current participants rejected by local research ethics committee |
| Quality of study team/multi-disciplinary team | √ Multi-disciplinary team from Sheffield Hallam University and University of Sheffield |
| Involvement of a Clinical Trials Unit | √ University of Sheffield Clinical Trials Unit, main collaborator in the trial |
| Trial manager | √ Dedicated project manager, appropriate cover arranged at a later date due to maternity leave |
| Local recruitment co-ordinators | x Centralised recruitment only |
| Feasibility work | √ Pilot study recruitment conducted |
| Peer-reviewed study protocol | √ Protocol publication |
| Simple study design | x Brief intervention and main intervention |
| Service user input | √ Expert elders attend design |
| Important research question with support of the clinical community | √ Support of public health, physical activity professionals, GPs and research community |
| Drug trial/intervention only available in study | √ Motivational interviewing not widely available in community |
| Appropriately funded | √ HTA funding secured for 3 years |
GP general practitioner, HTA Health Technology Assessment, NHS National Health Service, PI principal investigator