Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40440340›Full record

ArticlePLOS digital health2025

Planning for successful participant recruitment and retention in trials of behavioural interventions: Feasibility randomised controlled trial of the Wrapped intervention.

Lauren Schumacher, Rik Crutzen, Kayleigh Kwah, Katherine Brown, Julia V Bailey, Stephen Bremner, Louise J Jackson, Katie Newby

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLOS digital health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Trial
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Lauren SchumacherPublic Health and Applied Behaviour Change (PHAB) Lab, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3430-1816
Rik CrutzenDepartment of Health Promotion, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Kayleigh KwahPublic Health and Applied Behaviour Change (PHAB) Lab, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom.
Katherine BrownPublic Health and Applied Behaviour Change (PHAB) Lab, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom.
Julia V BaileyeHealth Unit, Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Stephen BremnerDepartment of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, United Kingdom.
Louise J JacksonInstitute of Applied Health Research, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Katie NewbyPublic Health and Applied Behaviour Change (PHAB) Lab, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) must have sufficient power if planned analyses are to be performed and strong conclusions drawn. A prerequisite of this is successful participant recruitment and retention. Designing a comprehensive plan for participant recruitment and retention prior to trial commencement is recommended, but evidence concerning successful strategies, and how to go about developing a comprehensive plan, is lacking. This paper reports on the application of a six-stage process to develop a recruitment and retention strategy for a future RCT. Stage 1) Rapid evidence review: strategies used in previous trials were identified through database searching. This informed Stage 2) PPI workshop: workshops with public and patient involvement (PPI) group were used to select a sub-set of these strategies based on their potential to be successful and acceptable with the target audience. Stage 3) Focus groups with the target audience: the sub-set was refined through feedback from 15 young people (data subjected to content analysis). Strategies the PPI and focus groups mutually agreed upon proceeded directly to Stage 5; those without consensus proceeded to Stage 4. Stage 4) PPI workshop: PPI members voted on the remaining strategies; those without consensus were discarded. Stage 5) Observation of strategies during feasibility RCT (fRCT): the retained set of strategies were observed in practice in a fRCT in which recruitment and retention data and qualitative feedback from participants was collected. Stage 6) PPI workshop: the fRCT findings were reviewed and strategies for use in the future RCT were finalised. The finalised strategy included set of adverts; schedule of financial incentives; instructions to send survey invite by email, one prompt by SMS prior to data collection, and up to three SMS reminders; procedure to keep participants engaged (e.g., newsletters, personalisation of communications); and procedure if participants fail to complete a research activity (follow-up email/phone call).

Identifiers

PMID40440340
PMCPMC12121807

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.