Using Online Social Media for Recruitment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Participants: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

BackgroundThere are many challenges in recruiting and engaging participants when conducting research, especially with HIV-positive individuals. Some of these challenges include geographical barriers, insufficient time and financial resources, and perceived HIV-related stigma. ObjectiveThis paper describes the methodology of a recruitment approach that capitalized on existing online social media venues and other Internet resources in an attempt to overcome some of these barriers to research recruitment and retention. MethodsFrom May through August 2013, a campaign approach using a combination of online social media, non-financial incentives, and Web-based survey software was implemented to advertise, recruit, and retain participants, and collect data for a survey study with a limited budget. ResultsApproximately US $5,000 was spent with a research staff designated at 20% of full-time effort, yielding 2034 survey clicks, 1404 of which met the inclusion criteria and initiated the survey, for an average cost of US $3.56 per survey initiation. A total of 1221 individuals completed the survey, yielding 86.97% retention. ConclusionsThese data indicate that online recruitment is a feasible and efficient tool that can be further enhanced by sophisticated online data collection software and the addition of non-financial incentives.