Lessons learned from recruiting young female students to a randomised controlled trial of chlamydia screening.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recruitment is a problem in many trials. Two female medical students offered to help with recruiting problems in a community-based trial of chlamydia screening to prevent pelvic inflammatory disease. We need to recruit 2500 sexually active female students and ask them to provide a self-taken low vaginal swab and complete a questionnaire with follow-up after a year. OBJECTIVES: To identify recruitment difficulties in a community-based trial of chlamydia screening and to investigate how they might be overcome. DESIGN: Descriptive study. SETTING: London South Bank and Kingston Universities. METHODS: The students observed the recruitment methods used for the first 4 months of the trial. This comprised single researchers recruiting individual women in student bars and common rooms. With the researchers they piloted a new method of group recruitment with pairs of researchers making announcements at the end of lectures after first sending out all male students and those aged>25 years. This involved extra time planning and liaising with the lecturers in advance of recruitment sessions. RESULTS: The recruitment rate had been averaging only 25 participants per week. Many students were ineligible: never been sexually active, too old, recently been tested for chlamydia. Many eligible students were reluctant to take part because of embarrassment or anxiety about providing a swab. Using a new method of group recruitment after lectures we recruited 192 participants in 2 weeks. CONCLUSION: For a study on a sensitive topic, two researchers recruiting women in groups after lectures may be a more effective and cost-effective way than individual recruitment by researchers working alone.