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African immigrant women are underrepresented in health research on maternal mental health. Thus, there is a need to highlight successful recruitment strategies to engage African women in health-oriented research. This paper offers insights on recruitment strategies utilized in recruiting African immigrant women in Alberta (Canada) with infants 2 years of age or under for a survey study on maternal mental health. We recruited 136 African immigrant women. Most participants were recruited by using already established social networks in the community. Other successful strategies included referral from community partners (i.e., immigrant organizations, cultural association, religious institutions), participants, utilizing an online survey tool (i.e., Qualtrics), and through family and friend networks (i.e., word-of-mouth). This study evidently highlights the importance of utilizing multiple recruitment strategies to successfully meet the desired sample size for a survey study. We believe the lessons learned during the process of recruitment will be helpful for others working with other African immigrant women populations in Canada and in other Western societies.

Background: Exploration of biomarkers for debilitating diseases such as cervical spondylosis is important to revolutionize clinical diagnosis and management of such conditions. The study aimed to determine the correlation between neck pain and disability and serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), osteoprotegerin (OPG), estradiol (E2), testosterone (TES), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) among individuals with symptomatic cervical spondylosis. Methods: This study was a cohort design. The participants were new referrals to two Nigerian physical therapy clinics. Participants’ neck pain intensity (PI), neck disability index (NDI), IL-6, OPG, E2, TES, Ca, and Mg were measured at baseline and after 13 weeks of follow-up. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent samples ttest, Pearson’s correlation, and multiple linear regression. Results: Forty individuals aged 52.40 ± 8.60 years participated in the study. Women had significantly higher levels of IL-6 (t=  − 2.392, p= 0.026), OPG (t=  − 3.235, p= 0.005), E2 (t=  − 6.841, p= 0.001), but lower TES (t= 17.776, p= 0.001). There were no significant sex differences in PI and NDI. There were significant correlations between PI and OPG (r= 0.385, p< 0.001), NDI and OPG (r= 0.402, p< 0.001), and IL-6 (r= 0.235, p= 0.036). Significant predictors of PI were OPG (β= 0.442, p< 0.001) and E2 (β=  − 0.285, p= 0.011), and NDI were OPG (β= 0.453, p< 0.001), E2 (β=  − 0.292, p= 0.005), and IL-6 (β= 0.225, p= 0.024). Conclusion: High serum levels of IL-6 and OPG were associated with cervical spondylosis severity. However, high serum levels of E2 and TES correlated with lesser severity. Moreover, TES inversely correlated with the proinflammatory cytokines.

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