title: Successfully recruiting a multicultural population: the DASH-Sodium experience.
abstract: Recruiting practices employed by the four clinical centers participating in the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-Sodium trial were examined to assess the most successful method of obtaining participants and to describe pertinent learning experiences gained as a result of the trial. The primary recruitment strategies employed by each center were mass mailing brochures (direct, coupon packs, or other) and mass media (advertisements in newspapers, radio, and television spots). Of 412 randomized participants, 265 (64%) were from mass distribution of brochures, 62 (15%) mass media, and 85 (21%) were prior study participants, referred by word-of-mouth, or reported coming from screening events and presentations. Although the most successful method of recruitment was mass mailing brochures, three times as many brochures were distributed to obtain similar success as in the initial DASH trial.
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. kennedbm@pbrc.edu
authors.forename: Betty M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: Paul R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Conlin
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reams
authors.forename: Jeanne B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Charleston
authors.forename: Lawrence J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Appel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000329:Advertising; D000368:Aged; D004039:Diet, Sodium-Restricted; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D010174:Pamphlets; D018579:Patient Selection; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic