Satia Jessie A, Galanko Joseph A, Rimer Barbara K
Department of Nutrition, Univeresity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005 Mar;14(3):718-21. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-04-0132.
Recruitment of African Americans into health research studies is a major challenge. This report describes a study of different methods and strategies to recruit African Americans into a population-based assessment of cancer behavioral risk factors.
African Americans ages 18 to 70 years in North Carolina (n = 5,000) were randomly selected from the Department of Motor Vehicle rosters and assigned at random to one of five different recruitment strategies based on variations of approach letters (generic versus culturally sensitive) and inclusion, exclusion, or promise of a small incentive. Prospective participants were sent an 11-page questionnaire by mail but could complete it by telephone or Internet as well as by mail.
The overall response rate was 17.5% (747 completed surveys of 4,276 delivered): 655, 84, and 8 by mail, Internet, and telephone, respectively. Among eligible respondents, response was significantly higher for incentive-based than nonincentive strategies; 23.9% for the generic letter plus incentive compared with 15.8% for the generic letter only (P < 0.001). The culturally sensitive letter had little effect on participation (15.8% for both the generic and culturally sensitive letters). The mean age of eligible respondents was 43.9 years, 41% were male, 37% were college graduates, and 75% were overweight/obese. There were no differences in respondent characteristics by assigned recruitment strategy.
Incentive-based strategies yielded the highest survey responses, whereas a culturally sensitive letter did not appreciably increase participation among African Americans in North Carolina. This study adds to what is known about culturally sensitive recruitment strategies for African Americans and challenges their usefulness in survey-based studies.
招募非裔美国人参与健康研究是一项重大挑战。本报告描述了一项关于采用不同方法和策略招募非裔美国人参与基于人群的癌症行为危险因素评估的研究。
从北卡罗来纳州机动车登记名册中随机选取18至70岁的非裔美国人（n = 5000），并根据介绍信的不同变体（通用型与文化敏感型）以及是否包含、排除或承诺给予小额激励，将他们随机分配到五种不同的招募策略之一。向潜在参与者邮寄了一份11页的问卷，但他们也可以通过电话、互联网或邮寄方式完成问卷。
总体回复率为17.5%（在投递的4276份问卷中，747份完成了调查）：通过邮寄、互联网和电话完成调查的分别为655份、84份和8份。在符合条件的受访者中，基于激励的策略的回复率显著高于非激励策略；通用信加激励的回复率为23.9%，而仅通用信的回复率为15.8%（P < 0.001）。文化敏感型信件对参与度影响不大（通用型和文化敏感型信件的回复率均为15.8%）。符合条件的受访者的平均年龄为43.9岁，41%为男性，37%为大学毕业生，75%超重/肥胖。按分配的招募策略划分，受访者特征没有差异。
基于激励的策略获得了最高的调查回复率，而文化敏感型信件并未显著提高北卡罗来纳州非裔美国人的参与度。本研究补充了关于针对非裔美国人的文化敏感型招募策略的现有知识，并对其在基于调查的研究中的效用提出了质疑。
