Public Perspectives on Digitalizing Pediatric Research: Recruitment and Retention Strategies (Preprint)

Abstract

The recruitment and retention of pediatric research has always been a challenge, particularly in healthy populations and remote areas, leading to selection bias and worsening health disparities. In today’s digital age, medical research has been significantly transformed by the use of digital tools and undergoing digitalization, creating new opportunities to enhance engagement in clinical research. However, the public perspectives on digitalizing pediatric research and potential differences between urban and suburban areas remain unknown.

This study aimed to investigate public perspectives on digitalizing pediatric research and compare differences between urban and suburban areas to help diversify pediatric research participants and address health disparities.

A cross-sectional online questionnaire survey was conducted targeting caregivers of kindergarten children (aged 2-7 years) in Chongqing between June and December 2023. A total of 4231 valid questionnaires were analyzed, with 25.1% of children residing in urban areas and 74.9% in suburban areas. Descriptive statistical methods and intergroup comparisons were used for data analysis.

Approximately 59.8% of caregivers had first impressions of pediatric research, with 36.9% being positive and 22.9% negative. While 38.3% and 36.7% of caregivers acknowledged the increasing popularity of digital tools and supported their use in pediatric research, respectively, only 25.2% supported online-only research methods. Privacy concerns (77.4%) and potential addiction (58.1%) were the primary concerns about using software in pediatric research. Public accounts of research institutions (80.4%) were the preferred source for online recruitment, with telephone (62.3%) and social media apps (58.6%) being the most popular methods for regular contact. Intergroup comparisons revealed that suburban caregivers had more positive first impressions of pediatric research, fewer barriers to participation, higher receptivity to unofficial online recruitment sources (social media friends, and Moments), and greater interest in using digital tools for data collection.

In the digital age, enhancing recruitment and retention of pediatric research could be achieved by integrating both official and unofficial social media recruitment strategies, implementing a hybrid online and offline follow-up approach, and addressing concerns such as privacy.