ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2020
The Role of Social Media in Enhancing Clinical Trial Recruitment: Scoping Review.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 94 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
94 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pelvic floor muscle training in telerehabilitation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2024Pooled it
- Reddit for research recruitment? Social media as a novel clinical trial recruitment tool for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Trial
- Randomised controlled trial of mānuka oil-based ECMT-154™ vs. vehicle control for the topical treatment of eczema, conducted in community pharmacies in New Zealand.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Trial
- An evaluation of paid social media advertising and traditional advertising for addiction research recruitment.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Trial
- Using Social Media to Recruit a Diverse Sample of Participants for a Mobile Health (mHealth) Intervention to Increase Physical Activity: Exploratory Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Trial
- Digital Interventions to Modify Skin Cancer Risk Behaviors in a National Sample of Young Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Trial
- Enhancing Efficiency and Reach Using Facebook to Recruit Breast Cancer Survivors for a Telephone-Based Supportive Care Randomized Trial During the COVID-19 Pandemic.JCO oncology practice · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Social Media Influencer Marketing as a Clinical Trial Recruitment Modality: Tutorial Informed by One Study's Approach.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Educators, Not Influencers: Health Content Creator Perspectives on Research Recruitment Collaboration.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Parental perspectives and willingness towards digital paediatric research: a cross-sectional survey in two Chinese cities.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Telemedicine Adoption for Managing Chronic and Rare Diseases in Indonesia During and Beyond the COVID-19 Era: Qualitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Decentralized clinical trials in cardiovascular disease : A primer for clinical trialists.Nature cardiovascular research · 2026Review
- The art of sharing: From research to outreach in the social media era.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Social media toolkit for recruiting clinical research participants: A new resource from the Recruitment Innovation Center.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2026Article
- Digital and community-engaged approaches to improve research participant recruitment - Advice from forty convened experts.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2026Article
- Pharmacomicrobiomics.Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2025Review
- Engaging Minoritized Communities in Clinical Trials Through Social Media: Recommendations from Community-Based Participatory Research.Health communication · 2025Article
- Large language models in clinical trials: applications, technical advances, and future directions.BMC medicine · 2025Review
- Effectiveness and Costs of Participant Recruitment Strategies to a Web-Based Population Cohort: Observational Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Observational
34 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
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRecruiting participants into clinical trials continues to be a challenge, which can result in study delay or termination. Recent studies have used social media to enhance recruitment outcomes. An assessment of the literature on the use of social media for this purpose is required.
objectiveThis study aims to answer the following questions: (1) How is the use of social media, in combination with traditional approaches to enhance clinical trial recruitment and enrollment, represented in the literature? and (2) Do the data on recruitment and enrollment outcomes presented in the literature allow for comparison across studies?
methodsWe conducted a comprehensive literature search across 7 platforms to identify clinical trials that combined social media and traditional methods to recruit patients. Study and participant characteristics, recruitment methods, and recruitment outcomes were evaluated and compared.
resultsWe identified 2371 titles and abstracts through our systematic search. Of these, we assessed 95 full papers and determined that 33 studies met the inclusion criteria. A total of 17 studies reported enrollment outcomes, of which 9 achieved or exceeded their enrollment target. The proportion of participants enrolled from social media in these studies ranged from 0% to 49%. Across all 33 studies, the proportion of participants recruited and enrolled from social media varied greatly. A total of 9 studies reported higher enrollment rates from social media than any other methods, and 4 studies reported the lowest cost per enrolled participant from social media.
conclusionsWhile the assessment of the use of social media to improve clinical trial participation is hindered by reporting inconsistencies, preliminary data suggest that social media can increase participation and reduce per-participant cost. The adoption of consistent standards for reporting recruitment and enrollment outcomes is required to advance our understanding and use of social media to support clinical trial success.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.