The influence of social media on recruitment to surgical trials
Abstract Background Social media has changed the way surgeons communicate worldwide, particularly in dissemination of trial results. However, it is unclear if social media could be used in recruitment to surgical trials. This study aimed to investigate the influence of Twitter in promoting surgical...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2020-07-01
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| Series: | BMC Medical Research Methodology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12874-020-01072-1 |
| _version_ | 1819315594248323072 |
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| author | Carly Nichola Bisset Ben Carter Jennifer Law Jonathan Hewitt Kat Parmar Susan Joan Moug on behalf of the ELF Study Group Collaborative Authorship |
| author_facet | Carly Nichola Bisset Ben Carter Jennifer Law Jonathan Hewitt Kat Parmar Susan Joan Moug on behalf of the ELF Study Group Collaborative Authorship |
| author_sort | Carly Nichola Bisset |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Social media has changed the way surgeons communicate worldwide, particularly in dissemination of trial results. However, it is unclear if social media could be used in recruitment to surgical trials. This study aimed to investigate the influence of Twitter in promoting surgical recruitment in The Emergency Laparotomy and Frailty (ELF) Study. Methods The ELF Study was a UK-based, prospective, observational cohort that aimed to assess the influence of frailty on 90-day mortality in older adults undergoing emergency surgery. A power calculation required 500 patients to be recruited to detect a 10% change in mortality associated with frailty. A 12-week recruitment period was selected, calculated from information submitted by participating hospitals and the numbers of emergency surgeries performed in adults aged > 65 years. A Twitter handle was designed (@ELFStudy) with eye-catching logos to encourage enrolment and inform the public and clinicians involved in the study. Twitter Analytics and Twitonomy (Digonomy Pty Ltd) were used to analyse user engagement in relation to patient recruitment. Results After 90 days of data collection, 49 sites from Scotland, England and Wales recruited 952 consecutive patients undergoing emergency laparotomy, with data logged into a database created on REDCap. Target recruitment (n = 500) was achieved by week 11. A total of 591 tweets were published by @ELFStudy since its conception, making 218,136 impressions at time of writing. The number of impressions (number of times users see a particular tweet) prior to March 20th 2017 (study commencement date) was 23,335 (343.2 per tweet), compared to the recruitment period with 114,314 impressions (256.3 per tweet), ending June 20th 2017. Each additional tweet was associated with an increase in recruitment of 1.66 (95%CI 1.36 to 1.97; p < 0.001). Conclusion The ELF Study over-recruited by nearly 100%, reaching over 200,000 people across the U.K. Branding enhanced tweet aesthetics and helped increase tweet engagement to stimulate discussion and healthy competition amongst clinicians to aid trial recruitment. Other studies may draw from the social media experiences of the ELF Study to optimise collaboration amongst researchers. Trial registration This study is registered online at www.clinicaltrials.gov (registration number NCT02952430 ) and has been approved by the National Health Service Research Ethics Committee. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-24T10:02:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c8a33976dccf4f16bee88e7f57dcf3d6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2288 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-24T10:02:35Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Research Methodology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c8a33976dccf4f16bee88e7f57dcf3d62022-12-21T17:01:00ZengBMCBMC Medical Research Methodology1471-22882020-07-0120111010.1186/s12874-020-01072-1The influence of social media on recruitment to surgical trialsCarly Nichola Bisset0Ben Carter1Jennifer Law2Jonathan Hewitt3Kat Parmar4Susan Joan Moug5on behalf of the ELF Study Group Collaborative AuthorshipDepartment of General Surgery, Royal Alexandra HospitalDepartment of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College LondonDepartment of General Surgery, Blackpool Victoria HospitalDepartment of Population Medicine, Cardiff UniversityDepartment of General Surgery, Manchester Royal InfirmaryDepartment of General Surgery, Royal Alexandra HospitalAbstract Background Social media has changed the way surgeons communicate worldwide, particularly in dissemination of trial results. However, it is unclear if social media could be used in recruitment to surgical trials. This study aimed to investigate the influence of Twitter in promoting surgical recruitment in The Emergency Laparotomy and Frailty (ELF) Study. Methods The ELF Study was a UK-based, prospective, observational cohort that aimed to assess the influence of frailty on 90-day mortality in older adults undergoing emergency surgery. A power calculation required 500 patients to be recruited to detect a 10% change in mortality associated with frailty. A 12-week recruitment period was selected, calculated from information submitted by participating hospitals and the numbers of emergency surgeries performed in adults aged > 65 years. A Twitter handle was designed (@ELFStudy) with eye-catching logos to encourage enrolment and inform the public and clinicians involved in the study. Twitter Analytics and Twitonomy (Digonomy Pty Ltd) were used to analyse user engagement in relation to patient recruitment. Results After 90 days of data collection, 49 sites from Scotland, England and Wales recruited 952 consecutive patients undergoing emergency laparotomy, with data logged into a database created on REDCap. Target recruitment (n = 500) was achieved by week 11. A total of 591 tweets were published by @ELFStudy since its conception, making 218,136 impressions at time of writing. The number of impressions (number of times users see a particular tweet) prior to March 20th 2017 (study commencement date) was 23,335 (343.2 per tweet), compared to the recruitment period with 114,314 impressions (256.3 per tweet), ending June 20th 2017. Each additional tweet was associated with an increase in recruitment of 1.66 (95%CI 1.36 to 1.97; p < 0.001). Conclusion The ELF Study over-recruited by nearly 100%, reaching over 200,000 people across the U.K. Branding enhanced tweet aesthetics and helped increase tweet engagement to stimulate discussion and healthy competition amongst clinicians to aid trial recruitment. Other studies may draw from the social media experiences of the ELF Study to optimise collaboration amongst researchers. Trial registration This study is registered online at www.clinicaltrials.gov (registration number NCT02952430 ) and has been approved by the National Health Service Research Ethics Committee.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12874-020-01072-1Social mediaRecruitmentSurgical trials |
| spellingShingle | Carly Nichola Bisset Ben Carter Jennifer Law Jonathan Hewitt Kat Parmar Susan Joan Moug on behalf of the ELF Study Group Collaborative Authorship The influence of social media on recruitment to surgical trials BMC Medical Research Methodology Social media Recruitment Surgical trials |
| title | The influence of social media on recruitment to surgical trials |
| title_full | The influence of social media on recruitment to surgical trials |
| title_fullStr | The influence of social media on recruitment to surgical trials |
| title_full_unstemmed | The influence of social media on recruitment to surgical trials |
| title_short | The influence of social media on recruitment to surgical trials |
| title_sort | influence of social media on recruitment to surgical trials |
| topic | Social media Recruitment Surgical trials |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12874-020-01072-1 |
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