Table 3. Recruitment strategies employed in HIV prevention trials.
| Strategy | Description | Number of sites that mentioned using strategy (n = 17)* |
|---|---|---|
| Community engagement | ||
| Engagement meetings with gatekeepers | Before recruiting in the community, study teams visited gatekeepers-people who had influence within the community-to provide them information about the study and seek support. | 15 |
| Community advisory boards (CABs) | Study teams worked with advisory boards consisting of members of the community to provide information about the study, get information about the community, and ensure the research was community owned. | 10 |
| Information dissemination | ||
| Community events | Recruitment staff attended local community events, such as health education events or World AIDS Day, and gave educational presentations, handed out study information sheets, and answered questions. | 16 |
| Posters and flyers | Recruitment staff hung posters and handed out flyers in public spaces and health facilities to educate the public about PrEP and promote the trial. | 12 |
| Media | Principal investigators and research staff were interviewed on local or national radio stations and studies ran television commercials to raise awareness about PrEP and promote the trial. | 11 |
| Targeted recruitment | ||
| Presentations in waiting rooms | Recruitment staff were stationed in waiting rooms of clinics thought to serve at-risk populations to provide information and answer questions. | 13 |
| Word-of-mouth | Recruitment staff encouraged existing trial participants to promote participation among friends via word-of-mouth. | 12 |
| Venue-based recruitment | Recruitment staff provided information about the trial in areas where women congregate, such as: bars, brothels, shopping malls, communal taps, markets, or places on the street where people socialize. | 10 |
| Door-to-door | Recruitment staff provided door-to-door education about PrEP and the trial and discussed the details one-on-one with those who were interested. | 8 |
| Clinician referral | ||
| Clinician referrals | Clinicians in family planning, STI, or HIV testing and counseling clinics were trained on PrEP and the trial by study staff and asked to educate and refer their clients. | 14 |
* We did not probe specifically for each strategy, so additional sites may have used the strategy but not mentioned it.