The marketing plan and outcome indicators for recruiting and retaining parents in the HomeStyles randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Despite the critical importance of successful recruitment and retention to study integrity, reporting of recruitment and retention strategies along with factors associated with successful recruitment and retention of participants in health-related interventions remain rare, especially for health and obesity prevention programs. Thus, the purpose of this article is to retrospectively examine the recruitment and retention marketing plan used in the online HomeStyles randomized controlled trial (RCT) and discuss outcomes associated with completion of the intervention. METHODS: The HomeStyles RCT is an online intervention developed to motivate parents of young children to gain the skills and self-confidence needed to shape home environments and lifestyles to be protective against childhood obesity. Using the seven Ps of services marketing (i.e., people, place, product, physical evidence, price, promotion, and process), a comprehensive and systematic plan for recruitment and retention was implemented and outcomes assessed. RESULTS: A total of 489 parents with a young child aged 2 to < 6 years were eligible to participate, a final capture rate of 33%. Only 23% of Hispanic participants chose to use the Spanish-language version of HomeStyles intervention materials, below the demand anticipated. However, Hispanic enrollment overall was substantially higher than the U.S. population proportion (i.e., 17%). The number of participants prematurely leaving the study was similar in both treatment groups, indicating attrition was not differential. Completers reported high satisfaction of HomeStyles, using a 1–5 scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree) on guide attractiveness, interestingness, and usefulness. Despite all the retention efforts, the average monthly recruitment accrual rate of ~ 33 eligible enrolled participants at baseline (i.e., 489 participants/15-month recruitment period), declined to ~ 18, 11, 9, and 8 remaining recruited participants/month at midpoint, post, follow-up, and long-term follow-up surveys, respectively. In general, survey completers were significantly more likely to be female and perceived their child’s health status to be better, and they were significantly less likely to be restrictive of their child’s food intake. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present study highlight the need for far-reaching, concentrated, and varied recruitment strategies; sufficient time in the research plan for recruitment and retention activities; and creative, tireless, flexible, persistent project staff for health-related interventions.