Enhancing Participant Recruitment in Studies of Sensitive Topics

Recruiting participants in studies involving sensitive topics can be challenging. OBJECTIVE This article examines whether a modified application of the Dillman method for enhancing survey response rates will increase participant recruitment rates when studying abuse during childbearing. STUDY DESIGN Bilingual informed consents (N =676) were mailed from 10 obstetrician, midwife, and family practice offices. Return of a signed informed consent enrolled the participant in the study. Informed consents were sent a maximum of three times to nonresponders. RESULTS Application of the modified Dillman method improved the recruitment rate from 13% to 35%, but only 16% of the sample had experienced abuse. CONCLUSION The data provide initial evidence supporting using this methodology for increasing sample recruitment. Further study is necessary to identify whether the characteristics of participants responding to the first mailing differ from the characteristics of those who respond to subsequent mailings.

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