SynthesisBMC medical research methodology2014
Reaching the hard-to-reach: a systematic review of strategies for improving health and medical research with socially disadvantaged groups.
Synthesis in BMC medical research methodology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06199570 (Support for Cancer Patients Awaiting News), which is not on this map. Cited by 744 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Support for Cancer Patients Awaiting News (SCAN Study): Pilot Testing a Stress Management Program
Who cites it
744 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Cocreation and codesign in maternal health: processes, outcomes and implementation challenges.BMJ quality & safety · 2026Pooled it
- Strategies to reach, involve, and maintain underserved populations in health intervention research: a systematic review of reviews.International journal for equity in health · 2026Pooled it
- Managing technological sovereignty: a systematic review of semiconductor industry policy and regional ecosystem governance.Frontiers in research metrics and analytics · 2026Pooled it
- Positive airway pressure therapy and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in people with obstructive sleep apnoea: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and confounder-adjusted, non-randomised controlled studies.The Lancet. Respiratory medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Exploring the design and impact of integrated health and social care services for children and young people living in underserved populations: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Barriers and facilitators for engaging underrepresented ethnic minority populations in healthcare research: an umbrella review.International journal for equity in health · 2025Pooled it
- Unmet oral health needs and barriers to dental services among socially marginalized youth: a scoping review.Frontiers in oral health · 2025Pooled it
- Underserved groups could be better considered within population-based eye health surveys: a methodological study.Journal of clinical epidemiology · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- Acceptability of VloV, a Mobile App Developed in Latin America for People with Substance Use Disorder among an Intensive Outpatient Treatment.Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Investigating a novel population health management system to increase access to healthcare for children: a nested cross-sectional study within a cluster randomised controlled trial.BMJ quality & safety · 2024Trial
- Oral health and self-perceived job readiness among socially disadvantaged and unemployed citizens.Acta odontologica Scandinavica · 2024Trial
- A participatory research to assess how a student citizens' assembly can facilitate the co-creation of nutrition interventions in higher education settings.BMC public health · 2024Trial
- Facilitating access to mental healthcare for patients with long-term conditions in general practice: a qualitative collective case study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- How equity in cancer services has been defined and measured, and why it matters: a scoping review of Universal Health Coverage systems.Global health action · 2026Article
- Article
- Designing a Gamified mHealth App for HIV Prevention and Comorbidities Among Malaysian Young Men Who Have Sex With Men: An Interdisciplinary Expert Panel Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Working conditions and mental health of employees suffering from common mental disorders in Germany with special consideration to the migration generation.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Nurse-led care model to overcome migration-related language barriers in people with cancer (BMJ open · 2026Article
684 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis study aims to review the literature regarding the barriers to sampling, recruitment, participation, and retention of members of socioeconomically disadvantaged groups in health research and strategies for increasing the amount of health research conducted with socially disadvantaged groups.
methodsA systematic review with narrative synthesis was conducted. Searches of electronic databases Medline, PsychInfo, EMBASE, Social Science Index via Web of Knowledge and CINHAL were conducted for English language articles published up to May 2013. Qualitative and quantitative studies as well as literature reviews were included. Articles were included if they reported attempts to increase disadvantaged group participation in research, or the barriers to research with disadvantaged groups. Groups of interest were those described as socially, culturally or financially disadvantaged compared to the majority of society. Eligible articles were categorised according to five phases of research: 1) sampling, 2) recruitment and gaining consent, 3) data collection and measurement, 4) intervention delivery and uptake, and 5) retention and attrition.
resultsIn total, 116 papers from 115 studies met inclusion criteria and 31 previous literature reviews were included. A comprehensive summation of the major barriers to working with various disadvantaged groups is provided, along with proposed strategies for addressing each of the identified types of barriers. Most studies of strategies to address the barriers were of a descriptive nature and only nine studies reported the results of randomised trials.
conclusionsTo tackle the challenges of research with socially disadvantaged groups, and increase their representation in health and medical research, researchers and research institutions need to acknowledge extended timeframes, plan for higher resourcing costs and operate via community partnerships.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.