From Clicks to Consent: Recruitment Yield from Social Media Advertisements and Associated Costs for a Telehealth Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

Abstract

Recruiting participants is essential for all clinical trials. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, offer the opportunity to recruit participant through paid advertisements. These ad campaigns may be a cost-effective approach to recruiting participants, that can cost upwards of $200 per enrolled participant. However, little is known about the extent to which “clicks” on social media ads translates to actual consent and enrollment of participants who meet study criteria. Understanding this is especially important for remote interventions, such as telehealth-based studies, which open the possibility to recruit over large geographical areas and are becoming more common for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA).

The aim of this study was to report on the conversion of clicks on a Facebook advertisement campaign to consent to enrollment in an ongoing telehealth Physical Therapy study for adults with knee OA, and the costs associated with recruitment.

This was a secondary analysis using data collected over the first 5 months of an ongoing study of adults with knee OA. The Delaware Physical Exercise and Activity for Knee Osteoarthritis (PEAK) program compares an expanded virtually delivered exercise program to a brief program among n=100 adults with knee OA. Advertisement campaigns were configured on Facebook to reach an audience who could be potentially eligible. Clicking on the advertisement directed potential participants to an online Screening Form to answer six brief questions related to study criteria. Next, a research team member called individuals who met criteria from the Screening Form and verbally asked additional questions related to study criteria. Once considered eligible, an electronic Informed Consent Form (ICF) was sent. We described the number of potential study participants who made it through each of these steps and then calculated the cost per participant who signed the ICF.

In sum, between July and November 2021, 33,319 unique users saw at least one advertisement, 9,879 clicks were made, 423 online Screening Forms were completed, 132 participants were successfully contacted, 70 were considered eligible and 32 signed the ICF. Recruitment cost an average of $51.94 USD/participant.

While there was a low conversion from clicks to actual consent, 32% (32/100) of the total sample required for the study were expeditiously consented over 5 months with a per subject cost well below traditional means of recruitment, which ranges between $90 to $1,000 USD/participant.

NCT04980300