Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Apr 27:9:27.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-9-27.

Recruitment to a physical activity intervention study in women at increased risk of breast cancer

Larissa A Korde  1 , Amy Micheli, Ashley W Smith, David Venzon, Sheila A Prindiville, Bart Drinkard, Nancy Sebring, Marcia D Smith, Jo Anne Zujewski, Jennifer Eng-Wong
Affiliations

Recruitment to a physical activity intervention study in women at increased risk of breast cancer

Larissa A Korde et al. BMC Med Res Methodol. .

Abstract

Background: Physical activity is being studied as a breast cancer prevention strategy. Women at risk of breast cancer report interest in lifestyle modification, but recruitment to randomized physical activity intervention studies is challenging.

Methods: We conducted an analysis of recruitment techniques used for a prospective, randomized pilot study of physical activity in women at risk of breast cancer. We evaluated differences in proportion of eligible patients, enrolled patients, and successful patients identified by each individual recruitment method. The Fisher-Freeman-Halton test (an extension of Fisher's exact test from 2 x 2 tables to general row by column tables) was used to compare the success of different recruitment strategies.

Results: We received 352 inquiries from women interested in participating, of whom 171 (54%) were eligible. Ninety-nine women completed a baseline activity evaluation, and 58 (34% of eligible; 16% of total inquiries) were randomized. Recruitment methods fell into three broad categories: media techniques, direct contact with potential participants, and contacts with health care providers. Recruitment strategies differed significantly in their ability to identify eligible women (p = 0.01), and women who subsequently enrolled in the study (p = 0.02).

Conclusion: Recruitment techniques had varying success. Our data illustrate the challenges in recruiting to behavior modification studies, and provide useful information for tailoring future recruitment efforts for lifestyle intervention trials. TRIAL REGISTRATION NO(S): CDR0000393790, NCI-04-C-0276, NCI-NAVY-B05-001.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Exercise Prescription.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of Study Enrollment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jemal A, Siegel R, Ward E, Hao Y, Xu J, Murray T. Cancer statistics, 2008. CA Cancer J Clin. 2008;58(2):71–96. doi: 10.3322/CA.2007.0010. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fisher B, Costantino JP, Wickerham DL, Redmond CK, Kavanah M, Cronin WM. Tamoxifen for prevention of breast cancer: report of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project P-1 Study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1998;90(18):1371–88. doi: 10.1093/jnci/90.18.1371. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Vogel VG, Costantino JP, Wickerham DL, Cronin WM, Cecchini RS, Atkins JN. Effects of tamoxifen vs raloxifene on the risk of developing invasive breast cancer and other disease outcomes: the NSABP Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR) P-2 trial. Jama. 2006;295(23):2727–41. doi: 10.1001/jama.295.23.joc60074. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Port ER, Montgomery LL, Heerdt AS, Borgen PI. Patient reluctance toward tamoxifen use for breast cancer primary prevention. Ann Surg Oncol. 2001;8(7):580–5. doi: 10.1007/s10434-001-0580-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tchou J, Hou N, Rademaker A, Jordan VC, Morrow M. Acceptance of tamoxifen chemoprevention by physicians and women at risk. Cancer. 2004;100(9):1800–6. doi: 10.1002/cncr.20205. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms