Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2013 Jan;25(1):88-95. doi: 10.1017/S104161021200138X. Epub 2012 Aug 29.
Clinical research is required to develop and evaluate suicide prevention interventions in the elderly. However, there is insufficient information available about how to best recruit suicidal older adults for such research. This study evaluated the success and efficiency of five recruitment strategies for a clinical trial on the efficacy of cognitive therapy for suicidal older men.
For each strategy, the numbers of individuals approached, screened, and enrolled were calculated, and the expenses and time associated with each enrollment estimated. Men who were 60 years or older and who had a desire for suicide over the past month were eligible for the trial.
Of 955 individuals considered for trial, 33 were enrolled. Most enrollments were sourced from the Veterans Affairs Behavioral Health Laboratory. Recruiting form this source was also the most time and cost efficient recruitment strategy in the study.
Recruitment strategies are effective when they are based on collaborative relationships between researchers and providers, and utilize an existing infrastructure for involving patients in ongoing research opportunities.
为了开发和评估针对老年人的预防自杀干预措施，需要进行临床研究。然而，关于如何最好地招募有自杀倾向的老年人参与此类研究，信息还不够充分。本研究评估了针对有自杀意念的老年男性进行认知疗法有效性的临床试验的五种招募策略的成功和效率。
对于每种策略，计算了接触、筛选和入组的人数，并估计了与每个入组相关的费用和时间。有自杀意愿且年龄在 60 岁及以上的男性有资格参加试验。
在考虑参加试验的 955 人中，有 33 人入组。大多数入组者来自退伍军人事务部行为健康实验室。从该来源招募也是研究中最具时间和成本效益的招募策略。
当招募策略基于研究人员和提供者之间的合作关系，并利用现有的基础设施为参与正在进行的研究机会的患者提供服务时，这些策略是有效的。
