Social Media Recruitment Research Articles

Using Social Media to Recruit Participants in Health Care Research: Case Study.

This paper presents a case study describing the use of social media, specifically Facebook and Instagram, as a valuable tool for recruiting participants in community-engaged health care studies. Drawing on the experiences of our team during a qualitative study aiming to understand the needs of Indigenous fathers and Two-Spirit parents as they transition to parenthood, we offer an in-depth exploration of our social media recruitment strategy. This strategy encompasses deliberate content creation and online engagement with local Indigenous community organizations and people. Through the implementation of this recruitment strategy, we successfully recruited 18 Indigenous fathers and 4 Two-Spirit parents to our community-engaged project. We learned that social media can be used to enhance recruitment by building community trust, engagement, tailored content for specific audiences, and adaptive strategies guided by data metrics provided by social media platforms. Our journey included several challenges, such as dealing with fraudulent participants, navigating budget and resource constraints, and facing recruitment limitations, which we also describe in detail. Our paper provides essential insights for researchers considering the use of social media as a recruitment tool but we are unsure of how to begin. Health care researchers may find our experience and recommendations helpful for developing and implementing their own effective social media recruitment strategy. Meanwhile, sharing our experience contributes to the broader understanding of the role of social media in participant recruitment.

Exploring the Impact and Prospects of Social Media in Advancing Pediatric Pathology.

Social media has been recently highlighted as a unique and modern virtual force that allows for worldwide connection, collaboration, communication, and engagement between pathologists, trainees, and medical students. Much literature has been focused on the role of social media in recruitment and medical education practices of different pathology subspecialties, such as dermatopathology and hematopathology. However, current literature on pathology social media's status and potential future roles in promoting pediatric pathology is sparse. Herein, this review intends to narrow this knowledge gap by reviewing how social media has been utilized in different pediatric subspecialties, the current use of social media in pathology, and how the future of pediatric pathology social media use may look moving forward regarding education, research, and recruitment. Specific tips and related online resources are provided.

Educator's blueprint: Key considerations for using social media in survey-based medical education research.

In this paper, we present a set of recommendations for using social media as a tool for participant recruitment in survey-based medical education research. Drawing from a limited but growing body of literature, we discuss the opportunities and challenges inherent to social media recruitment. This article builds on the authors' previous educator's blueprints about survey design and administration. We highlight the advantages of social media, including its wide reach, cost-effectiveness, and capability to access diverse and geographically dispersed populations, which can significantly enhance the representativeness of research samples. However, we also caution against potential pitfalls, such as ethical concerns, sampling bias, and the fluid nature of social media platforms. Our recommendations are informed by both empirical evidence and best practices, aiming to provide researchers with practical advice for effectively leveraging social media in survey-based medical education research. We emphasize the importance of selecting suitable platforms and engaging with targeted demographics thoughtfully. By sharing our insights, we hope to assist fellow medical education researchers in navigating the complexities of social media recruitment, thereby enriching the quality and impact of survey-based research in this field.

USING SOCIAL MEDIA AS A RECRUITMENT TOOL: STRATEGIES AND BEST PRACTICES

In today’s digital age, social media has emerged as a powerful tool for recruitment, revolutionizing traditional hiring methods. This study explores the effectiveness of social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram in attracting, engaging, and recruiting top talent across industries. By examining various strategies employed by organizations, this research identifies best practices for leveraging these platforms to enhance recruitment outcomes. Key strategies include employer branding, targeted advertising, passive candidate engagement, and community building. Additionally, the study highlights the benefits of using social media for recruitment, such as cost-effectiveness, a broader talent pool, and real-time communication, while also addressing challenges like candidate authenticity and information overload. This research provides actionable insights for HR professionals and recruiters seeking to optimize their social media recruitment strategies to improve hiring efficiency and attract the best talent.

Key Learnings and Considerations for Utilizing Social Media Recruitment in Parasport Research

Key Learnings and Considerations for Utilizing Social Media Recruitment in Parasport Research

Culturally Sensitive Perinatal Mental Health Care: Experiences of Women From Minority Ethnic Groups.

Current research has identified how ethnic minority women experience poorer health outcomes during the perinatal period. In the United Kingdom, specialist perinatal mental health services provide mental health treatment for women throughout the perinatal period. Service users have previously highlighted that perinatal services are hard to access and lack cultural sensitivity, whereas healthcare professionals have described limited opportunities and resources for developing cultural competency. We explored the experiences of ethnic minority women with National Health Service (NHS) specialist perinatal teams and identified what culturally sensitive perinatal mental health care means to this group. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, and an interpretative phenomenological analysis framework was used to analyse the interview transcripts. Participants were recruited from NHS specialist perinatal teams and online via social media. Six women were interviewed. Four group experiential themes central to the experiences of participants emerged: (1) strengthening community networks and peer support; (2) valuing cultural curiosity; (3) making sense of how culture, ethnicity, race and racism impact mental health; and (4) tailoring interventions to ethnic minority women and their families. The findings capture how ethnic minority women experience specialist perinatal teams and offer insights into practising culturally sensitive care. Perinatal mental health professionals can support ethnic minority women by strengthening their access to community resources and peer support; being curious about their culture; helping them to make sense of how culture, ethnicity, race and mental health interact; and applying cultural and practical adaptations to interventions. A Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG) of women from ethnic minority groups contributed to the design and conduct of this study. The LEAG had lived experience of perinatal mental health conditions and accessing specialist perinatal teams. The LEAG chose to co-produce specific aspects of the research they felt fit with their skills and available time throughout five group sessions. These aspects included developing the interview topic guide, a structure for debriefing participants and advising on the social media recruitment strategy.

The food environment and hypertension: A cross-sectional analysis in Black breast cancer survivors in Maryland

ObjectivesThe Food Environment Index (FEI) has shown varying positive impacts on health outcomes related to diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. However, a relationship between FEI and hypertension among breast cancer (BC) survivors, particularly Black women survivors, remains underexplored. Black women who are BC survivors have a high prevalence of hypertension and increased risk of mortality compared to White women with BC. Our analysis aims to fill this gap by assessing the FEI's association with hypertension in this population. DesignUtilizing social media recruitment strategies and BC survivor networks, 100 Black female BC survivors completed an online survey, that included sociodemographic and clinical characteristics as well as lifestyle factors. The 2023 FEI County Health Rankings was used to assess the food environment and the index ranges from 0 (worst) to 10 (best). Adjusted prevalence odds ratios (PORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for the associations between FEI, sociodemographic and clinical factors, and hypertension status. ResultsAmong the 94 study participants with data on hypertension status, 54.3 % reported a diagnosis of hypertension. Residing in counties with a below-median FEI (<8.8 v. above median: ≥8.8) was significantly associated with hypertension (POR = 4.10, 95 % CI: 1.19–14.13). Age at survey (≥50 years compared to <50 years: POR= 0.29, 95 % CI: 0.10–0.87) and household income ($75,000-$99,999 compared to > $99,999/year: POR = 12.02, 95 % CI: 2.08–69.43) were also significantly associated with hypertension. ConclusionOur study highlights the potential impact of the food environment on hypertension among Black BC survivors living in Maryland. Our findings call attention to the need for targeted interventions to improve food accessibility and quality in underserved communities, especially for special populations such as cancer survivors.

The Impact of Incentives on Data Collection for Online Surveys: Social Media Recruitment Study.

The use of targeted advertisements on social media platforms (eg, Facebook and Instagram) has become increasingly popular for recruiting participants for online survey research. Many of these surveys offer monetary incentives for survey completion in the form of gift cards; however, little is known about whether the incentive amount impacts the cost, speed, and quality of data collection. This experiment addresses this gap in the literature by examining how different incentives in paid advertising campaigns on Instagram for completing a 10-minute online survey influence the response rate, recruitment advertising cost, data quality, and length of data collection. This experiment tested three incentive conditions using three Instagram campaigns that were each allocated a US $1400 budget to spend over a maximum of 4 days; ads targeted users aged 15-24 years in three nonadjacent designated market areas of similar size to avoid overlapping audiences. Four ad creatives were designed for each campaign; all ads featured the same images and text, but the incentive amount varied: no incentive, US $5 gift card, and US $15 gift card. All ads had a clickable link that directed users to an eligibility screener and a 10-minute online survey, if eligible. Each campaign ran for either the full allotted time (4 days) or until there were 150 total survey completes, prior to data quality checks for fraud. The US $15 incentive condition resulted in the quickest and cheapest data collection, requiring 17 hours and ad spending of US $338.64 to achieve 142 survey completes. The US $5 condition took more than twice as long (39 hours) and cost US $864.33 in ad spending to achieve 148 survey completes. The no-incentive condition ran for 60 hours, spending nearly the full budget (US $1398.23), and achieved only 24 survey completes. The US $15 and US $5 incentive conditions had similar levels of fraudulent respondents, whereas the no-incentive condition had no fraudulent respondents. The completion rate for the US $15 and US $5 incentive conditions were 93.4% (155/166) and 89.8% (149/166), respectively, while the completion rate for the no-incentive condition was 43.6% (24/55). Overall, we found that a higher incentive resulted in quicker data collection, less money spent on ads, and higher response rates, despite some fraudulent cases that had to be dropped from the sample. However, when considering the total incentive amounts in addition to the ad spending, a US $5 incentive appeared to be the most cost-effective data collection option. Other costs associated with running a campaign for a longer period should also be considered. A longer experiment is warranted to determine whether fraud varies over time across conditions.

Exploring barriers to care home research recruitment during the COVID-19 pandemic: The influence of social media recruitment posts and public sentiment.

Recruitment of care home staff to research studies is recognised as challenging. This was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated negative media portrayal of care home workers. Social media use has surged since the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns, offering a plausible approach to understanding the barriers to care home research recruitment and gaining insight into public perceptions of care home workers. To utilise comments from two Facebook recruitment posts to: 1) gain an understanding of potential barriers to recruitment of healthcare workers (HCWs) in UK care homes, and 2) explore public sentiment towards care home research and care homes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study analysed comments from two Facebook posts (available June-October 2021) advertising a separate study on psychological support for care staff during the pandemic. This study was situated within a larger investigation into the mental health and wellbeing of care home staff and employed both qualitative analysis and quantitative methods (word count and correlations between words used and between posts). Three themes were identified from the qualitative analysis: support, mistrust and blame. There was a greater use of words associated with support and negative emotive words in post 2. Post 2 comments featured significantly more choice words and first-person singular pronouns than post 1 which indicated a resentful sentiment from those who advocate freedom of choice and control. Discussion of mistrust towards researchers was most prominent in post 1 indicating the importance of relationship building between researchers and HCWs in UK care homes. With attribution to blame, there was a larger range of negative emotion words than positive emotion words. Taken together our findings offer novel insights into why recruitment to care home research during the pandemic including the use of social media might be problematic. Social media is a useful tool for recruitment but should not be considered as a one-time input. Researchers should pro-actively engage with the study population from the start using co-design with resident and public groups to support recruitment and ensure these populations are accurately represented within research.

Facebook recruitment: understanding research relations Prior to data collection

ABSTRACT This article considers the multiple relations that emerge from and between Facebook commenters, as well as between commenters, researchers, and the research project during recruitment. To do so, we draw on our experiences of recruiting individuals who have concerns about or are opposed to a range of recent social and legal changes in ‘post-equality’ contexts. Understanding research as co-created rather than ‘collecting data from’ participants, we consider the researcher, commenters, and Facebook technologies as active agents, and ask how the emergent relationalities between these agents shapes the social media recruitment process. We develop thinking regarding these relationalities through an in-depth exploration of our processes that reveal key methodological considerations relevant to social media recruitment in the social sciences. As the process of recruitment is mutually constructed online through multiple relationalities across researcher/project and commenter, as well as between commenters themselves, we conclude that there is a need for dynamic, iterative, and reflexive responses and engagements rather than pre-defined frameworks.

Social media recruitment of participants in a female stress urinary incontinence trial: A feasibility study

ObjectiveThis study explores the opportunities of social media advertisements as a recruitment strategy in women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Study designThis feasibility study was part of a larger clinical trial on the effects of a patient decision aid for SUI treatment. We started a 61-day social media advertisement campaign to recruit women for the trial. The primary outcome of our study was enrolment pace. Secondary outcomes involved cost per participant, baseline demographic comparison and ad campaign performance metrics. Additionally, we interviewed recruited participants to identify the facilitators and barriers of our approach. ResultsTen participants were recruited, of whom 8 completed the full study protocol (2 questionnaires 6 months apart). The enrolment pace, 4.0 study participants per month, was faster compared to the average of 2.7 participants per month through conventional methods. The campaign reached 87 clicks on the advertisement per day and 1 % of these women showed interest in our study by contacting us. The overall conversion rate from click to full participation was 0.2 %. The costs per participant were €112. Besides higher age, the demographics of the social media recruited participants were comparable to the conventional inclusions. Qualitative analysis identified more user-oriented enrolment procedures and potential participant benefit as facilitators of social media recruitment. ConclusionThis study shows that social media recruitment can be feasible in trials for women with SUI. It can accelerate recruitment of eligible participants. Optimising the enrolment procedure to better meet participants’ needs and recruitment benefits may improve participation and cost-effectiveness.Trial registrationID 2017-3540

Social media recruitment of Black adolescents with internalizing concerns into a mental health help-seeking study.

Social media recruitment of Black adolescents with internalizing concerns into a mental health help-seeking study.

Abstract PO3-27-07: Age at diagnosis and the food environment are associated with postdiagnosis weight gain among Black American breast cancer survivors in Maryland

Abstract Background: Weight management is now included in the American Cancer Society/American Society of Clinical Oncology Breast Cancer Survivorship Care Guidelines due to its clinical impact on breast cancer (BC) survivorship outcomes. While numerous individual-level risk factors for weight gain after BC diagnosis have been identified, such as younger age at diagnosis, cancer stage, and cancer treatments (chemotherapy), there are limited data on the impact of neighborhood-level factors associated with weight change postdiagnosis among Black BC survivors. Methods: Utilizing social media recruitment strategies and survivor networks, we recruited 100 Black female BC survivors to complete an online survey, including demographic, clinical characteristics, and lifestyle factors, between January 5, 2022, and August 18, 2022. To capture the food environment, we utilized the 2023 Food Environment Index County Health Rankings, which accounts for access to healthy foods due to proximity and income (considering the distance an individual lives from a grocery store or supermarket, locations for health food purchases in most communities, and the inability to access healthy food because of cost barriers). The index ranges from 0 (worst) to 10 (best). Our outcome of postdiagnosis weight gain was calculated as percent weight change from time at diagnosis to time of survey, calculated as ([weight at survey – weight at diagnosis]/weight at diagnosis) × 100. Participants were grouped into mutually exclusive categories of stable weight (within ± 3%) or weight loss (≤-3%) compared to weight gain (≥ 3%). Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for the associations between clinical factors, county-level food environment index, and postdiagnosis weight gain. Results: The average ages at time of survey and at primary BC diagnosis were 58.6 years (standard deviation [SD]= 10.1) and 49.1 years (SD=10.2), respectively. Most women (70%) were diagnosed with invasive BC and only 22% were currently undergoing treatment at the time of the survey. While only 7% reported being obese at the time of BC diagnosis, 54% reported being obese at the time of survey which was on average 9 years post-BC diagnosis; and while 61 women had weight loss or stable weight, 34 women experienced weight gain postdiagnosis. Among the 95 women included in multivariable models who reported weight and height measurements for calculating weight change, women ≥50 years of age at BC diagnosis (versus &amp;lt; 50 years) were 3.43 times more likely to gain weight after diagnosis (95% CI 1.13-11.50). Women living in counties with a Food Environment Index ≥8.8 (median cut-point compared to &amp;lt; 8.8) were significantly less likely to experience weight gain (aOR 0.11; 95% CI 0.01-0.90). Stage and BC treatments were not significantly associated with weight gain. Conclusions: Our study findings demonstrate the importance of evaluating the food environment during BC survivorship and longitudinal monitoring of weight postdiagnosis to mitigate weight gain among Black BC survivors. Our findings will be used to inform a larger prospective study and future interventions among this population. Citation Format: Avonne Connor, Katherine Ho, Kate Dibble, Kala Visvanathan. Age at diagnosis and the food environment are associated with postdiagnosis weight gain among Black American breast cancer survivors in Maryland [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO3-27-07.

Using Facebook to Recruit Urban Participants for Smartphone-Based Travel Surveys

Social media has become an integral part of everyday life for many individuals, serving as a platform to express opinions, share memories and lifestyles, follow news, and adapt to social trends and norms. The wealth of user information and analytics on these platforms has facilitated the development and sale of tailored products and services, benefiting advertisers and researchers seeking survey participants. Social media advertising has demonstrated its effectiveness in reaching hard-to-reach populations. However, transport researchers have yet to capitalise on this potential fully. This paper presents our experience using social media to recruit participants for two smartphone travel surveys conducted in Australia. We demonstrate that social media recruitment and smartphone-based travel surveys are highly effective, adaptable, and can be rapidly deployed in response to research opportunities, such as during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic when traditional methods may be less suitable. This approach also holds great potential for travel surveys targeting the general population. This paper shares several lessons from this experiment, including our administrative approach and detailed technical instructions to utilise open-source software tools for conducting smartphone travel surveys like ours. This approach significantly reduces study costs compared to most commercial solutions.

Using Social Media to Recruit Seldom-Heard Groups: Reaching Women and Girls with Experience of Violence in Iran

Social media recruitment and online surveys are valuable tools in social science research, but their effectiveness in reaching seldom-heard victims of gender violence in low-middle income (LMI) countries is under-explored. This empirical study aims to: (1) describe violence and abuse experiences and (2) assess the benefits and limitations of using social media to document violence against women and girls (VAWGs) in a LMI country to render visible the experiences of potentially isolated victims. A total of 453 Iranian women (aged 14–59, mean = 28.8, SD = 8.04) responded to an Instagram invitation for a study on women’s health and violence exposure from February 2020 to January 2022. The questionnaire covered general gendered abuse, domestic violence (DV), and forced unemployment. The analysis was performed using Stata 17. Nearly all participants reported abuse, including sexual (85.0%), psychological (83.4%), and technology-facilitated (57.4%) abuse, with 77.4% experiencing multiple forms. The street (62%) and home (52.8%) were common abuse locations. The perpetrators included known individuals (75.9%) and strangers (80.8%), with 56.7% reporting abuse by both. DV was reported by 72.6%, mainly involving psychological (73.1%), physical (53.4%), and/or sexual (17.2%) violence, with fathers (47.8%), husbands (42.7%), and brothers (40.2%) as frequent perpetrators. A quarter reported forced unemployment. Those experiencing DV and/or forced unemployment showed higher depression levels, suicidal ideation, and lower marital satisfaction. The study suggests using social media recruitment for VAWG research but cautions against overgeneralising from these data.

Barriers and Facilitators of Parent Presence in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The purpose of this study was to describe system-level and personal factors influencing parent presence in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and identify differences in factors by sociodemographic characteristics. In a cross-sectional national survey study using social media recruitment, participants rated the frequency of 13 potential barriers and 12 potential facilitators using a 5-point Likert scale. Experiences of discrimination and parent-staff engagement were also measured. Valid responses were analyzed from 152 participants. Uncomfortable facilities and home responsibilities were the most highly reported system-level and personal barriers, respectively. Encouragement to participate in caregiving and social support were the most highly reported system-level and personal facilitators, respectively. Participants reported low to moderate levels of discrimination and moderate levels of parent-staff engagement. Latent class analysis revealed three sociodemographic clusters. Differences in barriers, facilitators, discrimination, and engagement were found among clusters. NICU facilities are uncomfortable and may discourage parent presence. Allowing support persons to accompany parents, providing comfortable facilities, and engaging parents in caregiving may promote greater parent presence and improved parent and child outcomes. Studies of potential bias toward parents with lower education and income and effects on parent presence and infant outcomes are needed.

The Mediating Role of Credibility and Satisfaction in Social Media Recruitment Outcomes

The growing popularity of social media has encouraged recruitment managers to adopt social media recruitment. The study aims to investigate the relationship between social media recruitment (SMR) and recruitment outcomes (ROs), encompassing both pre-hire and post-hire stages. The research study also aims to examine whether the relationship between SMR intention and ROs is mediated by credibility and satisfaction (CS). The growing strategy of SMRs encouraged recruiters to use social media in the recruitment process. However, there is a need to investigate the mediating role of CS between SMR and the ROs. This study provides a strong emphasis on communicating accurate and sufficient information on hiring organizations to the applicants which will facilitate the achievement of expected good recruitment outcomes. Data has been collected from the human resource professionals in Iligan City to Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. Data was analyzed through structural equation modelling. The results of the study revealed that there is a significant relationship between SMR and ROs, particularly for pre-hire and post-hire outcomes. The results also demonstrated that CS serves as a mediator in the correlation between SMR intention and ROs.

NAVIGATING THE DIGITAL FRONTIER: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA'S EVOLVING ROLE IN CONTEMPORARY RECRUITMENT

This research explores the evolving role of social media in contemporary recruitment, focusing on emerging trends, success factors, and potential pitfalls. As organisations increasingly turn to social media platforms for talent acquisition, our comprehensive literature review analyses shifts in candidate behaviour, platform preferences, and technological advancements. The study identifies critical success factors, such as employer branding, engagement strategies, and data analytics, essential for effective social media recruitment. Additionally, we scrutinise potential drawbacks, including privacy concerns and online reputation management. Our findings highlight the transformative impact of social media on recruitment processes, emphasising the need for organisations to adapt and optimise their strategies. The research contributes academically and practically, offering insights for recruiters, HR professionals, and organisational leaders seeking to leverage social media strategically in talent acquisition. Recommendations include incorporating interactive content, exploring augmented reality for employer branding, and adopting technologies like blockchain, AI-powered chatbots, and virtual reality for transparent, engaging, and innovative recruitment practices.&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Article visualizations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="/-counters-/edu/0729/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Advancing youth tobacco surveillance with novel methods.

Tobacco surveillance in the United States is robust but cannot be quickly modified to capture newly identified tobacco products or behaviors. We present an example of a rapidly deployed nonprobability survey using social media recruitment that collected data on rapidly changing tobacco use behaviors. We recruited 15- to 17-year old current vapers from NY, USA, using targeted social media advertisements to complete the New York Adolescent Vaping Survey (NY AVS), which asked about vaping behaviors not addressed in existing probability surveillance surveys. We used the New York Youth Risk Behavior Survey (NY YRBS) to apply calibration weights to ensure that the distribution of the demographic characteristics accurately reflected the population distribution. We found systematic differences in demographic variable distributions between the probability-based NY YRBS and the convenience sample of the NY AVS that were reconciled in the weighting calibration. We found no statistically significant differences between the NY YRBS and NY AVS estimates after calibration for two outcome variables of interest. Recruiting a sample of adolescents using social media advertising to conduct a rapid survey on vaping provided valuable data that complemented traditional surveillance surveys; this approach could be used to fill future knowledge gaps in youth tobacco surveillance.

Patients' Experiences of Dental Diagnostic Failures: A Qualitative Study Using Social Media.

Despite the many advancements made in patient safety over the past decade, combating diagnostic errors (DEs) remains a crucial, yet understudied initiative toward improvement. This study sought to understand the perception of dental patients who have experienced a dental diagnostic failure (DDF) and to identify patient-centered strategies to help reduce future occurrences of DDF. Through social media recruitment, we conducted a screening survey, initial assessment, and 67 individual patient interviews to capture the effects of misdiagnosis, missed diagnosis, or delayed diagnosis on patient lives. Audio recordings of patient interviews were transcribed, and a hybrid thematic analysis approach was used to capture details about 4 main domains of interest: the patient's DDF experience, contributing factors, impact, and strategies to mitigate future occurrences. Dental patients endured prolonged suffering, disease progression, unnecessary treatments, and the development of new symptoms as a result of experiencing DE. Poor provider communication, inadequate time with provider, and lack of patient self-advocacy and health literacy were among the top attributes patients believed contributed to the development of a DE. Patients suggested that improvements in provider chairside manners, more detailed patient diagnostic workups, and improving personal self-advocacy; along with enhanced reporting systems, could help mitigate future DE. This study demonstrates the valuable insight the patient perspective provides in understanding DEs, therefore aiding the development of strategies to help reduce the occurrences of future DDF events. Given the challenges patients expressed, there is a significant need to create an accessible reporting system that fosters constructive clinician learning.