Recruitment of older women: lessons learned from the Baltimore Hip Studies.
OBJECTIVE
This study used a qualitative approach in which participants were asked to write about their experiences in recruiting older women into either one of two exercise intervention studies that are part of the Baltimore Hip Studies. The sample included 8 researcher nurses all women, White, and 42-53 years of age.


BACKGROUND
Older adults, particularly older women, are less likely to participate in research studies when compared to their younger counterparts. The purpose of this study was to explore the techniques successfully used by research nurses in the Baltimore Hip Studies to recruit older women after hip fracture into exercise intervention studies.


METHODS
Data analysis was performed using basic content analysis (Crabtree & Miller, 1992; Miles & Huberman, 1984) "in vivo" coding (Dowd, 1991), or "grounded" coding (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), which involves using the informants' own words to capture a particular idea.


RESULTS
A total of 16 codes were identified and reduced to nine themes. Seven themes focused on techniques that facilitated recruitment: (a) caring for individuals; (b) emphasizing benefits; (c) eliciting support from others; (d) being an expert; (e) using role models; (f) using good timing; and (g) giving good first impressions. The remaining two themes identified barriers to recruitment: (a) time commitment and (b) lack of support.


CONCLUSIONS
Based on these themes, specific recruitment techniques are recommended. Ongoing research, however, is needed to establish the most effective recruitment procedures with older women.
Resnick
Barbara
B
University of Maryland School of Nursing, 655 West Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD 21045, USA. bresnick@umaryland.edu
Concha
Betty
B
Burgess
Judy Graham
JG
Fine
Mary Louise
ML
West
Linda
L
Baylor
Karen
K
Nahm
Eun Shim
ES
Buie
Verita Custis
VC
Werner
Michelle
M
Orwig
Denise
D
Magaziner
Jay
J
D000328:Adult; D000533:Altruism; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015142:Baltimore; D002983:Clinical Competence; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research / Q000379:methods*; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000451:nursing* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D018579:Patient Selection; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012944:Social Support