TY  - JOUR
AU  - Yuan, Patrick
AU  - Bare, Michael G
AU  - Johnson, Mallory O
AU  - Saberi, Parya
PY  - 2014
DA  - 2014/05/01
TI  - Using Online Social Media for Recruitment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Participants: A Cross-Sectional Survey
JO  - J Med Internet Res
SP  - e117
VL  - 16
IS  - 5
KW  - HIV
KW  - AIDS
KW  - online social media
KW  - Facebook
KW  - Twitter
KW  - recruitment
KW  - Internet research
KW  - survey retention
KW  - online data collection software
KW  - non-financial incentives
AB  - Background: There are many challenges in recruiting and engaging participants when conducting research, especially with HIV-positive individuals. Some of these challenges include geographical barriers, insufficient time and financial resources, and perceived HIV-related stigma. Objective: This paper describes the methodology of a recruitment approach that capitalized on existing online social media venues and other Internet resources in an attempt to overcome some of these barriers to research recruitment and retention. Methods: From May through August 2013, a campaign approach using a combination of online social media, non-financial incentives, and Web-based survey software was implemented to advertise, recruit, and retain participants, and collect data for a survey study with a limited budget. Results: Approximately US $5,000 was spent with a research staff designated at 20% of full-time effort, yielding 2034 survey clicks, 1404 of which met the inclusion criteria and initiated the survey, for an average cost of US $3.56 per survey initiation. A total of 1221 individuals completed the survey, yielding 86.97% retention. Conclusions: These data indicate that online recruitment is a feasible and efficient tool that can be further enhanced by sophisticated online data collection software and the addition of non-financial incentives. 
SN  - 14388871
UR  - http://www.jmir.org/2014/5/e117/
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.3229
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24784982
DO  - 10.2196/jmir.3229
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/jmir.3229
ER  -