Enhancing reach and effectiveness of recruitment through email: a study within a trial (SWAT).
8 affiliations
- 1VA Portland Health Care System, Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC), 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road (R&D 66), Portland, OR, 97239, USA.
- 2Division of Psychology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, 3266 SW Research Dr, 4th Floor, Portland, OR, 97239, USA.
- 3School of Nursing, Oregon Health & Science University, 3455 SW US Veterans Hospital Rd., Portland, OR, 97239, USA.
- 4School of Public Health, Oregon Health & Science University-Portland State University, 1850 SW 5th Ave, Portland, OR, 97201, USA.
- 5VA Puget Sound Health Care System, 1660 S Columbian Way, Seattle, WA, 98108, USA.
- 6Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 356560, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
- 7VA Portland Health Care System, Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC), 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road (R&D 66), Portland, OR, 97239, USA. [email protected].
- 8Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR, 97239, USA. [email protected].
Abstract
Background
Best practices for efficient and effective email recruitment are unclear. This study within a trial (SWAT) aimed to evaluate the effect of an email's subject line and a prenotification email, as well as explore the impact of sociodemographic characteristics, on recruitment.Methods
The SWAT was embedded within the Buddy Check Postcard Project (BCPP) trial, which investigated sending brief caring postcards to older veterans to reduce loneliness. The SWAT was a quasi-experimental study (n = 1945) with time-based allocation that tested three subject lines and use of a prenotification (email notifying participants to expect a study invitation). Subject lines each emphasized a different potential motivator for research participation: benefit to self (incentive), benefit to others (altruism), and official Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) email (institutional reference). The primary outcome was reach (whether recipients opened the email) and the secondary outcome was effectiveness (whether recipients completed the baseline survey). Sociodemographic characteristics considered were age, sex assigned at birth, race, ethnicity, and rurality.Results
The institutional subject line was associated with higher odds of opening the email compared to the altruism (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.93, 95% confidence interval (CI): [1.46, 2.55]) and incentive subject lines (AOR = 1.54, 95% CI: [1.19, 1.99]), adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, site, and prenotification. The institutional subject line was also associated with higher odds of baseline survey completion than the altruism subject line (AOR = 2.44, 95% CI: [1.08, 5.50]), but not compared to the incentive subject line (AOR = 1.42, 95% CI: [0.73, 2.76]). Receiving a prenotification email was not significantly associated with increased reach or effectiveness. Non-Hispanic/Latino White urban participants were more likely to open the recruitment email. Younger, female, non-Hispanic/Latino White participants were more likely to complete the baseline survey. There was no evidence of sociodemographic characteristics moderating the effects of either the subject line or prenotification.Conclusions
Veterans who received an email subject line with an institutional reference to the VA were more likely to open the email and enroll in a clinical trial than veterans who received an incentive or altruistic subject line. This study did not detect clear evidence of a substantial benefit for recruitment to sending prenotification emails.
Related
- How Can We Reach You? An Overview of Establishing Effective Recruitment Strategies for Young Women Breast Cancer Survivors.
- Global reach, equity, and learning outcomes of a digital surgical education platform: a RE-AIM implementation-effectiveness evaluation of SURGhub.
- Effectiveness of recruitment methods in cancer clinical trials: an Australian experience.
- Representativeness of reach and effectiveness of proactive tobacco quitline follow-up treatment for adults who smoke tobacco products: Secondary analyses of a factorial experiment.
- Cost-effectiveness of adding enzalutamide vs standard non-steroidal antiandrogen drugs for patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer undergoing standard first-line therapy: a within-trial, secondary end-point analysis of the ENZAMET phase 3, international randomized trial (ANZUP 1304)
BibTeX
@article{erwig2026enhancing,
title = {{Enhancing reach and effectiveness of recruitment through email: a study within a trial (SWAT).}},
author = {Theresa E Erwig and Aaron A Call and Nathan F Dieckmann and Mark A Reger and Alan R Teo},
journal = {Trials},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s13063-026-09902-1},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972574},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Enhancing reach and effectiveness of recruitment through email: a study within a trial (SWAT).
AU - Theresa E Erwig
AU - Aaron A Call
AU - Nathan F Dieckmann
AU - Mark A Reger
AU - Alan R Teo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/06
JO - Trials
DO - 10.1186/s13063-026-09902-1
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972574
AB - Background Best practices for efficient and effective email recruitment are unclear. This study within a trial (SWAT) aimed to evaluate the effect of an email's subject line and a prenotification email, as well as explore the impact of sociodemographic characteristics, on recruitment.Methods The SWAT was embedded within the Buddy Check Postcard Project (BCPP) trial, which investigated sending brief caring postcards to older veterans to reduce loneliness. The SWAT was a quasi-experimental study (n = 1945) with time-based allocation that tested three subject lines and use of a prenotification (email notifying participants to expect a study invitation). Subject lines each emphasized a different potential motivator for research participation: benefit to self (incentive), benefit to others (altruism), and official Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) email (institutional reference). The primary outcome was reach (whether recipients opened the email) and the secondary outcome was effectiveness (whether recipients completed the baseline survey). Sociodemographic characteristics considered were age, sex assigned at birth, race, ethnicity, and rurality.Results The institutional subject line was associated with higher odds of opening the email compared to the altruism (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.93, 95% confidence interval (CI): [1.46, 2.55]) and incentive subject lines (AOR = 1.54, 95% CI: [1.19, 1.99]), adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, site, and prenotification. The institutional subject line was also associated with higher odds of baseline survey completion than the altruism subject line (AOR = 2.44, 95% CI: [1.08, 5.50]), but not compared to the incentive subject line (AOR = 1.42, 95% CI: [0.73, 2.76]). Receiving a prenotification email was not significantly associated with increased reach or effectiveness. Non-Hispanic/Latino White urban participants were more likely to open the recruitment email. Younger, female, non-Hispanic/Latino White participants were more likely to complete the baseline survey. There was no evidence of sociodemographic characteristics moderating the effects of either the subject line or prenotification.Conclusions Veterans who received an email subject line with an institutional reference to the VA were more likely to open the email and enroll in a clinical trial than veterans who received an incentive or altruistic subject line. This study did not detect clear evidence of a substantial benefit for recruitment to sending prenotification emails.
SN - 1745-6215
ER -