Department of Anthropology, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, 47306, USA.
Department of Nutrition and Health Science, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA.
Matern Child Health J. 2021 Jul;25(7):1031-1035. doi: 10.1007/s10995-021-03143-1. Epub 2021 Apr 26.
Opioid use disorder among women of childbearing age has reached epidemic proportions. In rural regions of the United States, recruiting perinatal women who use nonmedical opioids to participate in research is wrought with challenges, including barriers such as community stigma, lack of transportation, and time constraints. The current study describes our process and challenges of recruiting pregnant and postpartum women in rural Indiana consisting of women who misuse opioids and those who do not.
We employed multiple strategies to recruit participants. Methods included (1) sampling from healthcare facilities based on referrals from front-desk staff and frontline healthcare workers; (2) dissemination of flyers and brochures within healthcare facilities and the community, supported with onsite research assistant presence; (3) digital methods coupled with snowball sampling; and (4) local community talks that provided information about the study.
Our multiple recruitment efforts revealed that building relationships with community stakeholders was key in recruiting women who use nonmedical opioids, but that digital methods were more effective in recruiting a larger sample of pregnant and postpartum women in a short amount of time.
We conclude by making several recommendations to enhance academic-community partnerships in order to bolster sample sizes for prolonged research studies. Furthermore, we highlight the need to destigmatize addiction in order to better serve hard-to-reach populations through research and practice.
育龄期妇女的阿片类药物使用障碍已达到流行程度。在美国农村地区，招募使用非医疗用阿片类药物的围产期妇女参与研究存在诸多挑战，包括社区耻辱感、缺乏交通和时间限制等障碍。本研究描述了我们在美国印第安纳州农村地区招募孕妇和产后妇女（包括滥用阿片类药物和不滥用阿片类药物的妇女）的过程和挑战。
我们采用了多种策略来招募参与者。方法包括：（1）根据前台工作人员和一线医护人员的转介，从医疗机构中抽样；（2）在医疗机构和社区内发放传单和宣传册，并配备现场研究助理；（3）结合数字方法和滚雪球抽样；（4）举办社区讲座，介绍研究情况。
我们的多项招募工作表明，与社区利益相关者建立关系是招募非医疗用阿片类药物使用者的关键，但数字方法在短时间内更有效地招募到了更多的孕妇和产后妇女。
我们最后提出了一些建议，以加强学术-社区伙伴关系，从而为长期研究增加样本量。此外，我们强调需要消除成瘾污名化，以便通过研究和实践更好地为难以接触到的人群提供服务。
