Multimodal Recruitment to Study Ovulation and Menstruation Health: Internet-Based Survey Pilot Study

Background Multimodal recruitment strategies are a novel way to increase diversity in research populations. However, these methods have not been previously applied to understanding the prevalence of menstrual disorders such as polycystic ovary syndrome. Objective The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of recruiting a diverse cohort to complete a web-based survey on ovulation and menstruation health. Methods We conducted the Ovulation and Menstruation Health Pilot Study using a REDCap web-based survey platform. We recruited 200 women from a clinical population, a community fair, and the internet. Results We recruited 438 women over 29 weeks between September 2017 and March 2018. After consent and eligibility determination, 345 enrolled, 278 started (clinic: n=43; community fair: n=61; internet: n=174), and 247 completed (clinic: n=28; community fair: n=60; internet: n=159) the survey. Among all participants, the median age was 25.0 (SD 6.0) years, mean BMI was 26.1 kg/m2 (SD 6.6), 79.7% (216/271) had a college degree or higher, and 14.6% (37/254) reported a physician diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome. Race and ethnicity distributions were 64.7% (176/272) White, 11.8% (32/272) Black/African American, 7.7% (21/272) Latina/Hispanic, and 5.9% (16/272) Asian individuals; 9.9% (27/272) reported more than one race or ethnicity. The highest enrollment of Black/African American individuals was in clinic (17/42, 40.5%) compared to 1.6% (1/61) in the community fair and 8.3% (14/169) using the internet. Survey completion rates were highest among those who were recruited from the internet (159/174, 91.4%) and community fairs (60/61, 98.4%) compared to those recruited in clinic (28/43, 65.1%). Conclusions Multimodal recruitment achieved target recruitment in a short time period and established a racially diverse cohort to study ovulation and menstruation health. There were greater enrollment and completion rates among those recruited via the internet and community fair.

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Multimodal Recruitment for an Internet-Based Pilot Study of Ovulation and Menstruation (OM) Health

10.1101/2020.06.29.20142778 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Shruthi Mahalingaiah ◽

J. Jojo Cheng ◽

Michael Winter ◽

Erika Rodriguez ◽

Victoria Fruh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Ethnic Diversity ◽

Online Survey ◽

Polycystic Ovary ◽

Internet Survey ◽

Clinical Population ◽

The Internet ◽

List Type ◽

Completion Rates ◽

Race Ethnicity

AbstractBackgroundMultimodal recruitment strategies are a novel way to increase diversity of research populations. However, these methods have not been previously applied to understanding the prevalence of menstrual disorders such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).MethodsWe conducted the Ovulation and Menstruation Health (OM) Pilot Study using an online survey platform to recruit 200 women from a clinical population, a community fair, and the Internet.ResultsWe recruited 438 women over 29 weeks between September 2017 and March 2018. After consent and eligibility determination, 345 enrolled, 278 started, and 247 completed the survey. Survey initiation and (completion) by recruitment location were 43 (28) from the clinic, 61(60) from a community fair, and 174 (159) from the internet. Among all participants, the mean (SD) age was 27 (6) years, body mass index was 26 kg/m2 (7), 79.7% had a college degree or higher, and 14.6% reported a physician diagnosis of PCOS. Race/ethnic distribution was 64.7% White, 11.8% Black, 7.7% Hispanic; and 5.9% Asian; 9.9% reported more than one race/ethnicity. The highest enrollment of Black race/ethnicity was in clinic (40.5%) compared to 1.6% in the community fair, and 8.3% using the internet. Survey completion rates were highest among those recruited from the internet (91.4%) and community fairs (98.4%), compared to in-clinic (65.1%).ConclusionMultimodal recruitment achieved target recruitment in a short time period, and established a racially diverse cohort to study ovulation and menstruation health. There was greater enrollment and completion rates among those recruited via the internet and community-fair.Key MessageThe Ovulation and Menstruation Health Pilot Study: Designed to determine the population prevalence of PCOS using a survey instrument and pictorial tool to ascertain menstrual cycle characteristics and androgen excess, and serve as a platform for a future longitudinal cohort study.Enrolled participants from diverse backgrounds using an online adaptable platform for multimodal recruitment.Mode of recruitment was associated with race/ethnic diversity and completion of survey.

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Multimodal Recruitment for an Internet-Based Pilot Study of Ovulation and Menstruation (OM) Health (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.24716 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Shruthi Mahalingaiah ◽

J. Jojo Cheng ◽

Michael Winter ◽

Erika Rodriguez ◽

Victoria Fruh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Online Survey ◽

Polycystic Ovary ◽

Internet Survey ◽

Clinical Population ◽

The Internet ◽

Completion Rates ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

Research Populations ◽

Test Feasibility

BACKGROUND Multimodal recruitment strategies are a novel way to increase diversity of research populations. However, these methods have not been previously applied to understanding the prevalence of menstrual disorders such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). OBJECTIVE To test feasibility of using an online survey platform to recruit a diverse cohort to study ovulation and menstruation health. METHODS We conducted the Ovulation and Menstruation Health (OM) Pilot Study using an online survey platform to recruit 200 women from a clinical population, a community fair, and the internet. RESULTS We recruited 438 women over 29 weeks between September 2017 and March 2018. After consent and eligibility determination, 345 enrolled, 278 started, and 247 completed the survey. Survey initiation and (completion) by recruitment location were 43 (28) from the clinic, 61(60) from a community fair, and 174 (159) from the internet. Among all participants, the mean (SD) age was 27 (6) years, body mass index was 26 kg/m2 (7), 79.7% had a college degree or higher, and 14.6% reported a physician diagnosis of PCOS. Race/ethnic distribution was 64.7% White, 11.8% Black, 7.7% Hispanic; and 5.9% Asian; 9.9% reported more than one race/ethnicity. The highest enrollment of Black race/ethnicity was in clinic (40.5%) compared to 1.6% in the community fair, and 8.3% using the internet. Survey completion rates were highest among those recruited from the internet (91.4%) and community fairs (98.4%), compared to in-clinic (65.1%). CONCLUSIONS Multimodal recruitment achieved target recruitment in a short time period, and established a racially diverse cohort to study ovulation and menstruation health. There was greater enrollment and completion rates among those recruited via the internet and community-fair.

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