1253-P: Yields and Costs of Recruitment Methods with Participant Baseline Characteristics for a Diabetes Prevention Research Study in an Underserved Pediatric Population

Abstract

Background: Diabetes disproportionately impacts Latino youth, yet few diabetes prevention programs (DPP) have prioritized inclusion of this vulnerable population. Recruitment is often the most challenging aspect of clinical trials and the optimal strategy to meet enrollment goals is unknown. This report describes the recruitment yields, costs, and baseline characteristics for a DPP focused on Latino youth. Methods: Recruitment methods included clinics, community efforts, media, and word-of-mouth with the goal of enrolling 120 Latino youth age 12-16 with obesity and prediabetes. Yields, costs, and baseline characteristics of youth were compared by recruitment method with final prediabetes eligibility determined by an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). Results: Recruitment spanned 47 months and yielded 655 referrals from clinics (N=344), community efforts (N=143), media (N=137), and word-of-mouth (N=31). From this pool, 50% (N=325) declined participation and 14% (N=93) were ineligible by general inclusion criteria. A screening OGTT was performed on 237 youth with 52% (N=122) meeting prediabetes eligibility and 117 subsequently randomized. The clinical sites yielded the highest number of total referrals (53%, N=344/655) while word-of-mouth yielded the highest proportion (35%, N=11/31) of randomized participants per referral. There were no significant differences in anthropologic or diabetes risk biomarkers between recruitment sources. Community recruitment efforts were the most costly ($486/randomized participant) followed by media ($236/randomized participant) and clinic ($248/randomized participant). Conclusions: These data suggest that yields and costs to recruit Latino youth into a DPP vary by method, and there were no differences in youth diabetes risk profiles. Recruiting hard-to-reach populations into clinical trials requires multiple strategies to meet target enrollment. Disclosure K.B. Vander Wyst: None. M. Olson: None. E.G. Soltero: None. Y.P. Konopken: None. C. Keller: None. F. González Castro: None. A. Williams: None. A.D.R. Fernandez: None. E. Hooker: None. D.L. Patrick: None. S. Ayers: None. H.H. Hu: None. A. Pena: None. W.C. Knowler: None. G.Q. Shaibi: None. Funding National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK10757901)