Rosser B R Simon, Capistrant Benjamin
University of Minnesota, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
JMIR Cancer. 2016 Jul 19;2(2):e9. doi: 10.2196/cancer.5578.
Recently, researchers have faced the challenge of conflicting recommendations for online versus traditional methods to recruit and interview older, sexual minority men. Older populations represent the cohort least likely to be online, necessitating the use of traditional research methods, such as telephone or in-person interviews. By contrast, gay and bisexual men represent a population of early adopters of new technology, both in general and for medical research. In a study of older gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer, we asked whether respondents preferred online versus offline methods for data collection. Given the paucity of research on how to recruit older gay and bisexual men in general, and older gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer in particular, we conducted an observational study to identify participant preferences when participating in research studies.
To test online versus offline recruitment demographic data collection, and interview preferences of older gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer.
Email blasts were sent from a website providing support services for gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer, supplemented with an email invitation from the web-host. All invitations provided information via the study website address and a toll-free telephone number. Study tasks included respondents being screened, giving informed consent, completing a short survey collecting demographic data, and a 60-75 minute telephone or Internet chat interview. All materials stressed that enrollees could participate in each task using either online methods or by telephone, whichever they preferred.
A total of 74 men were screened into the study, and 30 were interviewed. The average age of the participants was 63 years (standard deviation 6.9, range 48-75 years), with most residing in 14 American states, and one temporarily located overseas. For screening, consent, and the collection of demographic data, 97% (29/30) of the participants completed these tasks using online methods. For the interview, 97% (29/30) chose to be interviewed by telephone, rather than Internet chat.
Older gay and bisexual men, when given choices, appear to prefer a mixed methods approach to qualitative investigations. For most aspects of the study, the older men chose online methods; the exception was the interview, in which case almost all preferred telephone. We speculate that a combination of the deeply personal nature of the topic (sexual effects of prostate cancer treatment), unfamiliarity with online chat, and possibly the subject burden involved in extensive typing contributed to the preference of telephone versus online chat. Recruitment of older men into this study showed good geographic diversity. We recommend that other qualitative researchers consider a mixed methods approach when recruiting older populations online.
最近，研究人员在采用在线方式还是传统方式招募和访谈老年性少数男性方面面临相互矛盾的建议带来的挑战。老年人群是最不可能上网的群体，因此需要使用传统研究方法，如电话访谈或面对面访谈。相比之下，男同性恋者和双性恋者总体上以及在医学研究方面都是新技术的早期采用者。在一项针对患有前列腺癌的老年男同性恋者和双性恋者的研究中，我们询问了受访者在数据收集方面更喜欢在线方式还是线下方式。鉴于总体上关于如何招募老年男同性恋者和双性恋者，特别是患有前列腺癌的老年男同性恋者和双性恋者的研究匮乏，我们进行了一项观察性研究，以确定参与研究时参与者的偏好。
测试在线与线下招募、患有前列腺癌的老年男同性恋者和双性恋者的人口统计学数据收集以及访谈偏好。
从一个为患有前列腺癌的男同性恋者和双性恋者提供支持服务的网站发送群发电子邮件，并辅以网站主办方发送电子邮件邀请。所有邀请均通过研究网站地址和免费电话号码提供信息。研究任务包括对受访者进行筛选、给予知情同意、完成一份收集人口统计学数据的简短调查问卷以及进行60 - 75分钟的电话或网络聊天访谈。所有材料都强调参与者可以使用在线方式或电话参与每项任务，以他们喜欢的方式为准。
共有74名男性被筛选进入研究，30人接受了访谈。参与者的平均年龄为63岁（标准差6.9，范围48 - 75岁），大多数居住在美国的14个州，1人暂时居住在海外。在筛选、同意和收集人口统计学数据方面，97%（29/30）的参与者使用在线方式完成了这些任务。在访谈方面，97%（29/30）的人选择通过电话而不是网络聊天接受访谈。
老年男同性恋者和双性恋者在有选择的情况下，似乎更喜欢采用混合方法进行定性调查。在研究的大多数方面，老年男性选择在线方式；例外的是访谈，在这种情况下几乎所有人都更喜欢电话访谈。我们推测，该主题的高度个人性质（前列腺癌治疗的性影响）、对网络聊天的不熟悉以及可能大量打字带来的主题负担导致了对电话访谈而非网络聊天的偏好。将老年男性招募到本研究中显示出良好的地域多样性。我们建议其他定性研究人员在在线招募老年人群体时考虑采用混合方法。
