Recruiting Adolescent Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Patients for Research Studies: Assessing a Community-Partnered Approach

Most research studies enrolling adolescent metabolic and bariatric surgery patients rely on in-clinic recruitment methods, subsequently limiting participant diversity. Emerging literature indicates that community-partnered recruitment strategies may increase representation. The current study evaluated recruitment efficiency by comparing a community-partnered approach to additional recruitment channels. Preoperative and postoperative adolescents, and parents/guardians, were invited to participate in qualitative interviews and recruited through either (1) OCEANS (a community program) or (2) additional recruitment channels. Group differences in recruitment outcomes (eligibility, consent, and study completion) were assessed using Fisher’s exact test. During recruitment, it was suspected that mischievous responses may be present in the dataset. Mischievous responses were systematically removed using a rubric. Compared to the additional channels group ( n = 52), the community-partnered approach ( n = 19) resulted in a statistically significantly higher percentage of individuals who were eligible and completed study requirements ( p < 0.001). Community-partnered recruitment demonstrates potential for effectively enrolling eligible adolescents and parents/guardians in research.