Table 1.
Recruitment methods, examples, and the number of participants recruited (feedback from enrolled participants only, N=351).
| Recruitment method | Examples | Number recruiteda | |
|
|
|
Pacific | New Zealand European |
| The Fono Primary Healthcare Service (West Auckland) | Pacific staff members recruited through their database and wider community. Transport to and from research clinic provided. Radio interview (Radio Samoa 1593 FM; Tongan segment discussing the gut microbiome) | 102 | N/Ab |
| Participant word of mouth | University students, previous PROMISEc participants (interest increased with Me'a'ofa [gift or donation]) | 36 | 21 |
| Community/University Facebook pages/Special interest pages | Auckland (New Zealand) city central and surrounding suburbs, (approximately 38 Facebook pages; with repeat posts) and Pacific Heartbeat | 4 | 52 |
| Public figures Facebook pagesd | Local nutritionists, sports celebrities | 2 | 26 |
| University/work email lists | Massey University (New Zealand), The University of Auckland (New Zealand), New Zealand Police | 3 | 15 |
| Hospital staff newsletter/magazine | Auckland hospital network and email lists | 2 | 15 |
| Job advertisement site or volunteer page | Job search website, volunteer to participate in research website, student job search website | 5 | 5 |
| One-on-one recruitment (handing out flyers) | University orientation week, early childhood centers, schools | 1 | 9 |
| Websites | University website article, The Fono Primary Healthcare Service | 1 | 3 |
| Magazine articlese | National magazines (ie, nutrition, current affairs, and lifestyle). Articles mentioned current study and provided contact details | 0 | 9 |
| Festivals | Local Pacific festivals (ie, Polyfest 2017, Pasifika 2017) | 4 | 1 |
| Posterse | Universities, hospitals, health clinics, libraries, cafes, leisure centers, public swimming pools, gyms, community boards, supermarket notice boards | 0 | 11 |
| Recruitment companies | Consumer paid market research databases to recruit Pacific women with a body mass index of 18.5-24.9 kg/m2 only | 13 | N/A |
| Instagram story on local nutritionists/public figure Instagram feeds | 1 | 2 | |
| Local newspaper articles/websitee | Local free newspapers | 0 | 3 |
| Internal database of contactse | List of names recontacted who previously completed a similar trial [43] (note: filtered to contact difficult body mass index categories only) | 0 | 3 |
| Neighbourly, Twittere | Local suburb page Web noticeboard, PROMISE study twitter account (@promise_study) | 0 | 2 |
aLevel of recruitment based on attendance at visit 1 of the PROMISE study.
bN/A: not applicable.
cPROMISE: PRedictors linking Obesity and the gut MIcrobiomE.
dPublic figure pages used at the stage of recruitment where NZ European BMI ≤24.9 kg/m2 category was full; eg, one local nutritionist Facebook post resulted in 221 completed screening questionnaires, which resulted in 17 NZ European BMI ≥30.0 kg/m2 participants.
eAdvertisement method successful across NZ European women only.