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Recruitment Methods for Intervention Research in Bereavement-Related Depression

Five Years' Experience

Received August 27, 1996; revised March 11, 1997; accepted April 10, 1997. From the Mental Health Clinical Research Center for the Study of Late-Life Mood Disorders, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Address correspondence to D Reynolds, Room E1135, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

The authors compared various strategies for recruiting elderly subjects with bereavement-related depression into a randomized clinical trial. Over 5 years, they empaneled 65 patients from a total of 441 subjects screened (14.7%). Response to media advertisements was the single most effective strategy (54% of subjects). Another effective, but labor-intensive, strategy was using letters to bereaved spouses found through newspaper obituaries (14%); another 14% were referred by friends who had seen study advertisements. Information letters to healthcare providers yielded no study participants. Pathways to study participation did not differ as a function of race or gender and did not influence study retention or remission rates. Our experience suggests that successful intake depends on a personal mode of recruitment.

Key Words: Recruitment • Bereavement-Related Depression • Clinical Trials

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