title: Quantifying the recruitment challenges with couple-based interventions for cancer: applications to early-stage breast cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite mounting evidence supporting the use of psychosocial interventions to promote adaptation to cancer, enrolling participants into these interventions is challenging. This is particularly salient for couple-based interventions, and newer, more targeted recruitment strategies to increase enrollment are needed. However, there have been few published empirical studies focused specifically on recruitment-related variables associated with enrollment into these types of interventions. To better understand how to encourage participation in couple-based psychosocial interventions for cancer, we examined facilitating and impeding factors to enrollment into a couple-based intervention for women with early-stage breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this sample of 99 women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, patient demographic variables and method of approaching eligible patients were examined as predictors of enrollment into a randomized controlled trial comparing couple-based relationship enhancement with treatment as usual.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated that women were more likely to enroll if they were contacted at home or at a follow-up medical appointment rather than when first diagnosed at a busy multidisciplinary clinic; they were also more likely to enroll the closer they lived to the research facility.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In addition to decreasing participant burden, timing and setting of recruitment efforts may have important implications for enhancing participation rates in couple-based intervention studies for cancer.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. fredman@bu.edu
authors.forename: Steffany J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Fredman
authors.forename: Donald H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Baucom
authors.forename: Tina M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Gremore
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Castellani
authors.forename: Theresa A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Kallman
authors.forename: Laura S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kirby
authors.forename: E Claire
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Dees
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Klauber-Demore
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peppercorn
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Carey
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008388:Marital Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology; D018579:Patient Selection; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012803:Sick Role