Tsai Pao-Feng, Chang Jason Y, Chowdhury Nupur, Beck Cornelia, Roberson Paula K, Rosengren Karl
College of Nursing, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
Res Gerontol Nurs. 2009 Oct;2(4):228-34. doi: 10.3928/19404921-20090731-03. Epub 2009 Oct 27.
Exercise is an adjunct intervention for treating osteoarthritis (OA) knee pain, but many older adults, especially those with cognitive impairment, refuse to participate because of their frailty. Tai chi is a gentle alternative to Western-style aerobic exercise. In this article, we report recruitment experiences based on older adults' comments and on staff's observations and reports in a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) using tai chi as an intervention to reduce OA knee pain in a population of older adults with cognitive impairment. Recruitment challenges included issues with retirement apartment site staff, the older adults, study criteria or study design, and insufficient research staff. Strategies included networking and staying connected with site staff, using various recruiting approaches, providing incentives/motivation, and using informal leaders or residents as a way to recruit participants. Finally, modifying strict study criteria, securing staff for recruiting, and considering alternative designs to the classical RCT can also help overcome recruitment challenges.
运动是治疗膝骨关节炎（OA）疼痛的辅助干预措施，但许多老年人，尤其是那些有认知障碍的老年人，由于身体虚弱而拒绝参与。太极拳是西式有氧运动的一种温和替代方式。在本文中，我们报告了在一项试点随机对照试验（RCT）中的招募经验，该试验以太极拳作为干预措施，旨在减轻认知障碍老年人群的膝骨关节炎疼痛，这些经验基于老年人的评论以及工作人员的观察和报告。招募挑战包括退休公寓现场工作人员、老年人、研究标准或研究设计方面的问题，以及研究人员不足。策略包括与现场工作人员建立联系并保持沟通、采用各种招募方法、提供激励/动力，以及利用非正式领袖或居民来招募参与者。最后，修改严格的研究标准、确保有招募工作人员，并考虑采用经典随机对照试验之外的替代设计，也有助于克服招募挑战。
