Effectiveness of recruitment to a smartphone-delivered nutrition intervention in New Zealand: analysis of a randomised controlled trial

ObjectivesDelivery of interventions via smartphone is a relatively new initiative in public health, and limited evidence exists regarding optimal strategies for recruitment. We describe the effectiveness of approaches used to recruit participants to a smartphone-enabled nutrition intervention trial....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ open 2017-06, Vol.7 (6), p.e016198
Main Authors: Volkova, Ekaterina, Michie, Jo, Corrigan, Callie, Sundborn, Gerhard, Eyles, Helen, Jiang, Yannan, Mhurchu, Cliona Ni
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Advertising - economics
Age Factors
Attitude to Health - ethnology
Descriptive labeling
Diet - ethnology
Evidence-based medicine
Family Characteristics
Female
Food Labeling - methods
Health Promotion - methods
Humans
Male
Mobile Applications
New Zealand
Nutrition
Patient Selection
Periodicals as Topic - economics
Radio - economics
Research Methods
Sex Factors
Smartphone
Smartphones
Social Media - economics
Social networks
Websites
Young Adult
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Summary:ObjectivesDelivery of interventions via smartphone is a relatively new initiative in public health, and limited evidence exists regarding optimal strategies for recruitment. We describe the effectiveness of approaches used to recruit participants to a smartphone-enabled nutrition intervention trial.MethodsInternet and social media advertising, mainstream media advertising and research team networks were used to recruit New Zealand adults to a fully automated smartphone-delivered nutrition labelling trial (no face-to-face visits were required). Recruitment of Māori and Pacific participants was a key focus and ethically relevant recruitment materials and approaches were used where possible. The effectiveness of recruitment strategies was evaluated using Google Analytics, monitoring of study website registrations and randomisations, and self-reported participant data. The cost of the various strategies and associations with participant demographics were assessed.ResultsOver a period of 13 months, there were 2448 registrations on the study website, and 1357 eligible individuals were randomised into the study (55%). Facebook campaigns were the most successful recruitment strategy overall (43% of all randomised participants) and for all ethnic groups (Māori 44%, Pacific 44% and other 43%). Significant associations were observed between recruitment strategy and age (p
ISSN:2044-6055
2044-6055
DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016198