Understanding Recruitment Yield From Social Media Advertisements and Associated Costs of a Telehealth Randomized Controlled Trial: Descriptive Study.

BACKGROUND: Recruiting study participants for clinical research is a challenging yet essential task. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, offer the opportunity to recruit participants through paid advertisements. These ad campaigns may be a cost-effective approach to reaching and recruiting participants who meet specific study criteria. However, little is known about the extent to which clicks on social media advertisements translate to the actual consent and enrollment of participants who meet the study criteria. Understanding this is especially important for clinical trials conducted remotely, such as telehealth-based studies, which open the possibility to recruit over large geographical areas and are becoming more common for the treatment of chronic health conditions, such as osteoarthritis (OA). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to report on the conversion of clicks on a Facebook advertisement campaign to consent to enrollment in an ongoing telehealth physical therapy study for adults with knee OA, and the costs associated with recruitment. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis using data collected over the first 5 months of an ongoing study of adults with knee OA. The Delaware Physical Exercise and Activity for Knee Osteoarthritis program compares a virtually delivered exercise program to a control group receiving web-based resources among adults with knee OA. Advertisement campaigns were configured on Facebook to reach an audience who could be potentially eligible. Clicking on the advertisement directed potential participants to a web-based screening form to answer 6 brief questions related to the study criteria. Next, a research team member called individuals who met the criteria from the screening form and verbally asked additional questions related to the study criteria. Once considered eligible, an electronic informed consent form (ICF) was sent. We described the number of potential study participants who made it through each of these steps and then calculated the cost per participant who signed the ICF. RESULTS: In sum, between July and November 2021, a total of 33,319 unique users saw at least one advertisement, 9879 clicks were made, 423 web-based screening forms were completed, 132 participants were successfully contacted, 70 were considered eligible, and 32 signed the ICF. Recruitment costed an average of US $51.94 per participant. CONCLUSIONS: While there was a low conversion from clicks to actual consent, 32% (32/100) of the total sample required for the study were expeditiously consented over 5 months with a per-subject cost well below traditional means of recruitment, which ranges from US $90 to US $1000 per participant. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrails.gov NCT04980300; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04980300.

The D2.mdx mouse as a preclinical model of the skeletal muscle pathology associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked, lethal muscle degenerative disease caused by loss of dystrophin protein. DMD has no cure and few treatment options. Preclinical efforts to identify potential DMD therapeutics have been hampered by lack of a small animal model that recapitulates key features of the human disease. While the dystrophin-deficient mdx mouse on the C57BL/10 genetic background (B10.mdx) is mildly affected, a more severe muscle disease is observed when the mdx mutation is crossed onto the DBA/2J genetic background (D2.mdx). In this study, the functional and histological progression of the D2.mdx skeletal muscle pathology was evaluated to determine the distinguishing features of disease. Data herein details the muscular weakness and wasting exhibited by D2.mdx skeletal muscle, as well as severe histopathological features, which include the rapid progression of fibrosis and calcifications in the diaphragm and progressive fibrosis accumulation in limb muscles. Furthermore, a timeline of D2.mdx progression is provided that details distinct stages of disease progression. These data support the D2.mdx as a superior small animal model for DMD, as compared to the B10.mdx model. The insights provided in this report should facilitate the design of preclinical evaluations for potential DMD therapeutics.