Cost effectiveness of recruitment methods in an obesity prevention trial for young children.
BACKGROUND
Recruitment of participants for clinical trials requires considerable effort and cost. There is no research on the cost effectiveness of recruitment methods for an obesity prevention trial of young children.


METHODS
This study determined the cost effectiveness of recruiting 70 families with a child aged 4 to 7 (5.9+/-1.3) years in Western New York from February 2003 to November 2004, for a 2-year randomized obesity prevention trial to reduce television watching in the home.


RESULTS
Of the 70 randomized families, 65.7% (n=46) were obtained through direct mailings, 24.3% (n=17) were acquired through newspaper advertisements, 7.1% (n=5) from other sources (e.g., word of mouth), and 2.9% (n=2) through posters and brochures. Costs of each recruitment method were computed by adding the cost of materials, staff time, and media expenses. Cost effectiveness (money spent per randomized participant) was US $0 for other sources, US $227.76 for direct mailing, US $546.95 for newspaper ads, and US $3,020.84 for posters and brochures.


CONCLUSIONS
Of the methods with associated costs, direct mailing was the most cost effective in recruiting families with young children, which supports the growing literature of the effectiveness of direct mailing.
Robinson
Jodie L
JL
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York, Farber Hall, Buffalo, NY 14214-3000, USA.
Fuerch
Janene H
JH
Winiewicz
Dana D
DD
Salvy
Sarah J
SJ
Roemmich
James N
JN
Epstein
Leonard H
LH
D000329:Advertising / Q000191:economics; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015709:Correspondence as Topic; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009518:New York; D009524:Newspapers as Topic / Q000191:economics*; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010174:Pamphlets; D018579:Patient Selection; D011177:Postal Service / Q000191:economics*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000191:economics; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D013690:Television; D013997:Time Factors