Recruiting Hard-to-Reach Subjects for Exercise Interventions: A Multi-Centre and Multi-Stage Approach Targeting General Practitioners and Their Community-Dwelling and Mobility-Limited Patients

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Michael Brach⁵  Anna Moschny¹  Bettina B࿌ker⁴  Renate Klaa෾n-Mielke²  Matthias Trampisch²  Stefan Wilm³  Petra Platen¹ 

[1]Department of Sports Medicine and Sports Nutrition, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany

[2] E-Mails:

[3]Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiolgy, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany

[4] E-Mails:

[5]Institute of General Practice, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany

[6] E-Mail:

[7]Institute of General Practice and Family Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, 58448 Witten, Germany

[8] E-Mail:

[9]Institute of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Muenster, 48149 Muenster, Germany

关键词: general practitioner;    recruitment;    mobility limitation;    exercise;    older adults;    selection bias;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph10126611

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The general practitioner (GP)’s practice appears to be an ideal venue for recruiting community-dwelling older adults with limited mobility. This study (Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN17727272) aimed at evaluating the recruiting process used for a multi-centre exercise intervention (HOMEfit). Each of six steps resulted in an absolute number of patients (N1–N6). Sex and age (for N4–N6) and reasons for dropping out were assessed. Patient database screening (N1–N3) at 15 GP practices yielded N1 = 5,990 patients aged 70 and above who had visited their GP within the past 6 months, N2 = 5,467 after exclusion of institutionalised patients, N3 = 1,545 patients eligible. Using a pre-defined limitation algorithm in order to conserve the practices’ resources resulted in N4 = 1,214 patients (80.3 ± 5.6 years, 68% female), who were then officially invited to the final assessment of eligibility at the GP’s practice. N5 = 434 patients (79.5 ± 5.4 years, 69% female) attended the practice screening (n = 13 of whom had not received an official invitation). Finally, N6 = 209 (79.8 ± 5.2 years, 74% female) were randomised after they were judged eligible and had given their written informed consent to participate in the randomised controlled trial (overall recruitment rate: 4.4%). The general strategy of utilising a GP’s practice to recruit the target group proved beneficial. The data and experiences presented here can help planners of future exercise-intervention studies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.