%0 Journal Article
%T Increasing recruitment to randomised trials: a review of randomised controlled trials
%A Judith M Watson
%A David J Torgerson
%J BMC Medical Research Methodology
%D 2006
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2288-6-34
%X We searched the register of trials in Cochrane library from 1996 to end of 2004. We also searched Web of Science for 2004. Additional trials were identified from personal knowledge. Included studies had to use random allocation and participants had to be allocated to different methods of recruitment to a 'real' randomised trial. Trials that randomised participants to 'mock' trials and trials of recruitment to non-randomised studies (e.g., case control studies) were excluded. Information on the study design, intervention and control, and number of patients recruited was extracted by the 2 authors.We identified 14 papers describing 20 different interventions. Effective interventions included: telephone reminders; questionnaire inclusion; monetary incentives; using an 'open' rather than placebo design; and making trial materials culturally sensitive.Few trials have been undertaken to test interventions to improve trial recruitment. There is an urgent need for more RCTs of recruitment strategies.Recruitment to randomised trials can be very poor [1,2]. A recent survey of corresponding authors of randomised trials published between the years 2000 and 2001 in the Lancet or BMJ found that nearly 60% had either failed to meet their recruitment target or required an extended recruitment period [3].Poor or slow recruitment will have some or all of the following consequences. First, the possibility of incurring a Type II error increases if the sample size target is not met (i.e. erroneously concluding there is no significant difference between treatment groups). Second, even if the required sample size is met, if recruitment is slow, the trial may need to be extended which increases its costs. Third, late recruitment maintains the level of uncertainty about treatment effectiveness and delays the time a potentially effective therapy can be offered to the general population or increases the time that people are exposed to an ineffective or dangerous treatment. Finally, slow acqui
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/6/34