(182) Factors associated with Remote Recruiting in Patient Centered Outcomes Research Studies

Background: Recruiting patients for research is one of the most challenging aspects of a study can include a plethora of methods, including physician referrals, flyers, emails, patient portal messages, social media announcements and cold calls.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the impact of recruitment methods adapted by a remote recruitment process to conduct remote and decentralized research studies.

Methods: The study was conducted within the Excellence Network in Rheumatology (ENRGY) practice-based research network. Physicians were presented with information on studies and allowed their patients to be contacted. Patients were sent an introductory text briefly describing the study, encouraging participation, and indicating that a remote recruiter would be contacting them. Approximately 10-60 minutes after the text, the remote recruiter called the patient. If patients did not answer, the call was documented and a second call placed 24 hours later. If there was still no response, a second text and call (text occurring 10-60 minutes prior to the call) was placed 7 days later for a total of 5 contacts (2 texts and 3 phone calls). If patients were not reached by the fifth contact, further contact was abandoned. The outcome examined was 1) agreeing to participate (intent to participate) versus enrollment (actually participating), stratified by race. We analyzed descriptive statistics of patient demographics, enrollment status, and patient contacts. Crude and adjusted logistic regression modeled the odds of enrolling or agreeing to participate in studies.

Results: To date, a total of 3,276 patients have been contacted (text or called) at least one time, with 1,097 (34%) patients being reached by the remote recruiter. Of these, 353 patients were reached, but deemed to be ineligible based on study eligibility criteria, leaving 744 eligible for participation. Among these individuals, 107(14%) agreed to participate while on the call, but subsequently did not sign the consent form and enroll in the study; 193 (26%) consented and enrolled; 109 (15%) were excluded, and 335 (45%) declined to participate. African American patients more likely than White patients to agree to participate (20% vs. 14%), but less likely to consent and enroll (consent to participate in the study; 18% and 28%, respectively). Results from adjusted models indicated that African Americans were 52% less likely to enroll than White populations (aOR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.24 - 0.98).

Conclusions: Although African American populations indicated willingness to participate in research, they were less likely to consent and enroll in the studies, indicating a need for further research to determine the disconnect between willingness to participate and successful enrollment and consent.