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BackgroundTo address limitations in recruitment and enrollment of diverse, low-literacy patients into prostate cancer clinical trials, we evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of an English and Spanish, Internet-based, multilevel recruitment intervention.MethodsIntervention components included (1) a low-literacy, bilingual, automated, Internet-based clinical trial matching tool; (2) a bilingual nurse who assisted individuals with questions and enrollment; and (3) a targeted, Internet-based advertising campaign. We evaluated (a) completion of matching tool, (b) expression of interest in a clinical trial, (c) number of patients who matched to clinical trials at a single institution, (d) discussion of risks and benefits of clinical trials (via follow-up interviews), and (e) effect of the advertising on completing the matching tool. Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary estimates of efficacy were measured through user engagement with the matching tool and subsequent qualitative interviews with these same users.ResultsDuring the 28-week study period, 523 users provided demographic information, 263 were identified with prostate cancer, 192 (73%) matched to at least one clinical trial, and 29 (15.1%) of those who matched provided contact information. During the study period, 17 prostate cancer clinical trials were available for matching. We completed follow-up interviews with 14 of the 29 men who provided contact information. Of the 14, 85.7% discussed the risks and benefits of clinical trials with their physician, and 35.7% enrolled in a clinical trial. The Internet-based advertising campaign resulted in an increased number of matching tool completions.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates that an Internet-based clinical trial matching tool that is advertised using a targeted Internet-based campaign can provide an effective means to reach diverse, low-literacy patients. When implemented at scale and over a longer duration, such interventions may help increase trial participation among underrepresented populations.

With the development of the Internet, online recruitment has gradually become the mainstream. Analyzing the recruitment data and exploring the internal rules of the data can help enterprises and job seekers realize human-career matching. An extremely important step in analyzing recruitment data is to extract structured information from unstructured data. Named entity recognition can effectively extract entity information from unstructured data. In recent years, a lot of work has focused on this task, but no related work has been applied named entity recognition to Internet recruitment information. Therefore, this paper proposes the BiLSTM-Attention-CRF model for Internet recruitment information, which can be used to extract skill entities in job description information. This model introduces the BiLSTM and Attention mechanism to improve the effect of entity recognition. To verify the performance of the model, the paper used crawler technology to capture the real Internet recruitment data and annotate it and obtain a real data set. In this paper, a series of experiments are conducted on this data set, and the experimental results show that the proposed model achieves the best performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract As Internet accessibility grows among adults in the United States, researchers' utilization of Internet-based surveys and recruitment strategies has increased, but there is a paucity of knowledge about their use in different age groups of former dementia caregivers. The purpose of this secondary analysis is to describe 1) the use of Internet-based recruitment in obtaining a sample inclusive of young and middle aged (age 18–64), young-old (age 65–74), and older-old (age 75 and older) former dementia caregivers and 2) the feasibility of collecting data using an online survey in young and middle aged, young-old, and older-old former dementia caregivers. Utilizing convenience sampling, a four-step recruitment strategy encompassing a combination of Internet-based and non-Internet-based recruitment strategies was employed. Participants (N = 171) completed an online survey. Older-old, young-old, and young and middle-aged participants comprised 9%, 30%, and 61% of the sample respectively. All age cohorts provided minimal missing data using an online survey, but older-old participants required 15 additional minutes to complete the survey than young-old participants. Both cohorts of older adults were directed to the survey less frequently through online referral sources than young and middle-aged participants, and no older-old participants were referred via Facebook. All three age cohorts consisted of mostly white women. Internet-based surveys and recruitment were feasible among the age groups but may present challenges for the older-old and minorities. Further research on Internet-based data collection and recruitment is indicated in minority and older-old caregivers, focusing on trust, educational and financial disparities, and technological proficiency as potential barriers. Highlights • Caregivers of all ages provided minimal missing data using an online survey, but the oldest experienced more survey fatigue. • Internet-based referral sources are more commonly used by young and middle-aged caregivers than older caregivers. • Facebook may not be useful in recruiting older-old former dementia caregivers. • Across all age groups, Internet-based recruitment may not be sufficient to access a sample diverse in race and ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the variation of recruitment strategies in Spanish firms, with special emphasis on the Internet. Using data from the Spanish Labour Trends Survey for the period 2001–2011, we study the factors influencing the decision to use online recruitment and explore the differences between Internet and eight traditional recruitment channels. Our results show that the adoption of the Internet monotonically increases over the sample period, when Internet becomes more universal and even in periods with excess of applicants. Large firms operating in information-intensive activities, and located in regions more developed and with better infrastructures are more likely to search for new employees online. We also find that Internet and traditional recruitment methods follow different patterns, especially when using personal referrals and public employment services. Our results suggest the presence of network externalities derived from the increase number of compatible online job seekers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ISIS and other international terrorist organizations rely on the Internet to disseminate their extremist rhetoric and to recruit people to their cause, particularly through popular online social media applications. Any meaningful counterterrorism strategy must, therefore, account for the ways in which terrorist organizations use the Internet to prey on young, manipulable minds who are drawn to radical ideas and propaganda and to the desire to serve a cause larger than themselves. This article outlines the ways in which extremist organizations use the Internet to ensnare new recruits, analyzes the implications of cyber-recruitment on existing counterterrorism techniques, and suggests ways in which the U.S. government can work with Internet service providers and other major cyber corporations to better address this growing threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Submission of vaginal samples collected at home could remove barriers that women face in getting screened for cervical cancer. From December 2013 to January 2014, women aged 21-30 years were recruited online to participate in either (1) self-collected testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and an online survey, or (2) an online survey regarding their perceptions of self-collected testing for HPV infection. Demographics, risk factors, testing perceptions, and satisfaction with self-collected testing were assessed with online questionnaires. Women who performed self-collection were sent a home sampling kit by US mail, which was returned via US mail for HPV testing. A total of 197 women were enrolled, with 130 completing the online survey and 67 participating in both the survey and self-collection. Of the 67 women who were sent kits, 62 (92.5 %) were returned for testing. Sixty kits contained a sample sufficient for testing. The overall prevalence of HPV infection was 17.8 %, however 6 women (9.7 %) were infected with >1 type of HPV. Women who self-collected a sample reported more favorable attributes of self-collection compared to women who only participated in the online survey, including ease of sampling (87.1 vs. 18.9 %), no pain during sampling (72.6 vs. 5.6 %), and lack of embarrassment (67.7 vs. 12.9 %). A high prevalence of HPV infection was demonstrated among women recruited via the internet. Online recruitment and at home screening methods have the potential to engage women in screening by offering an approach that might be more acceptable to women of different backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We are testing web-based respondent-driven sampling (RDS) chain referrals to recruit smokers to the Decide2Quit.org (D2Q) web-assisted tobacco intervention. Methods: Using an online survey of smokers, we assessed the potential of recruiting 1200 smokers in 9 months using RDS chain referrals. RDS is a complex sample design, and many factors can influence its success. We conducted simulations to determine the design of optimal RDS chains. Results: Smokers (n=48) were mostly female (72%) and between ages 30-60 (82%). Estimation of smokers in their network: 1-5 (40%), 6-10 (24%), and 10-20 (22%), with mean number of intimate family (2.2, SD=2.1) and close friend smokers (3.7, SD=3.8). Most smokers (82%) were willing to refer to D2Q and thought their friends (mean=5.0, SD=4.4, range=0-20) would be open to referral. Simulations suggested that with a quota of 3 and 10 seeds, 99.9% of the sample would be achieved in 107 days if the acceptance probability was 0.5. Acceptance probability of 25% would necessitate an increased quota. Conclusions: Our study suggests that it is possible to recruit smokers using RDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Internet recruitment website effects on organizational attraction were examined. [•] Website content and design influenced attitudes toward the websites. [•] Also affected were organizational attitudes and attraction. [•] Website usability moderated these relationships. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Over the past decade, the Internet has significantly changed the job application process and improved the channels of communication between employers and job seekers. Similar to other employers, the US Army has actively used the Internet for recruiting purposes. This paper focuses on the relationship between Internet recruitment and posterior job performance in the US Army. In particular, I assess whether Internet recruits are different from their peers in terms of the first-term attrition, first-term reenlistment and duration of service. The results show that recruits hired via the Internet demonstrate favorable pattern of service. In comparison with other soldiers, they are less likely to drop out within the first 24 months of service, more likely to reenlist after the first term of service and have a longer overall duration of service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we draw upon data from a large-scale mixed methods investigation of clients of commercial sex workers in Canada to illustrate the potential value that understanding and integrating computer and network technology has for enhancing access to, and participation from, marginalized and stigmatized populations. In particular, we present qualitative data from analysis of our research field notes as well as an analysis of quantitative data from response monitoring and feedback features built into the actual data collection process to help support our argument that, for some populations, network technology–based recruitment strategies should be recognized as the preferred recruitment option. In addition, we discuss the potential utility and application of viral solicitation, a newly emerging computer network-based nonprobability technique, for contacting and securing the participation of stigmatized and marginalized research participants. Our recruitment of sex buyers through web-based listserves was the most successful participant solicitation strategy, generating 63.18% (n = 544) of our survey respondents. Conventional recruitment (advertising in print-based media and in adult-oriented businesses) generated few participants (2.90%, n = 25). Viral solicitation acted as an important low-cost supplemental means of recruitment, generating a further 164 survey participants (19.05% of survey participants). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study aims to determine the factors that influence the perceptions of university students towards Internet recruitment. Data were collected from 250 university students from five universities through self-reported questionnaires that were e-mailed to them. The results indicate that factors such as user friendliness, information provision, and website usability are significantly related to the perceptions of university students towards Internet recruitment. Amongst the three factors, information provision appears to be the strongest predictor. It can be concluded that Internet recruitment will continue to gain prominence, and employers must pay considerable attention to their online recruitment information, appearance, features, and functions if they wish to attract the right job candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development and application of Internet technology, the Internet has become a critical tool for employee recruitment. The main purpose of this study is to investigate whether the characteristics of corporate websites would predict job seekers' perceptions of person–organization fit and person–job fit, which in turn would predict the seekers' attraction to the organization. Data were collected from 353 job seekers through a bulletin board system and websites of job-related forums. The results indicate that the website content (i.e. organizational culture, compensation, and job preview) and website stylistic features (i.e. aesthetics and navigational usability) had differential effects on job seekers' fit perceptions, which in turn affected organizational attraction. Directions for future research and practical implications are also discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at some shortages of Internet recruitment,this article has presented a solution of second development with regard to the Internet recruitment system. This solution has realized multiple functions of recruitment decision and analysis. Furthermore, in order to improve the security of data, this article has provided a sort of data encryption algorithm regarding characteristics of VFP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Oxford Conception Study is a randomised controlled trial that aims to determine whether or not information about potential fertility from a device that monitors urinary hormones will increase the conception rate in women wishing to conceive. Three modified versions of a fertility monitor have been developed for the study. The monitor measures the levels of urinary oestrone-3-glucuronide (E3G) and luteinising hormone (LH), and the display indicates high or low fertility. The monitor requests all women to test their urine from day 6 to day 25 of the menstrual cycle inclusive. One-third of women are randomised to receive information from the fertility monitor about the early fertile time (from the first rise in E3G until the LH surge is detected), one-third receive information about the late fertile time (the onset of the LH surge and the following 2 days), and a third do not receive any information (control group). All the women are followed up for 6 months or until they are pregnant. A total of 1453 women have been recruited into the study, reaching the study recruitment goal for 80% power to detect a 10% difference in three-cycle pregnancy rate between the Late Fertile Time group (50%) and the Control group (40%), allowing for a 15% non-pregnancy drop-out rate. Follow-up of the women is currently ongoing. The primary analysis will compare the cumulative three-cycle pregnancy rate between each of the study arms. Time-specific conception probabilities will be estimated from coitus information recorded in 12-h intervals. The data from this study will also allow many additional questions to be addressed, including changes in intercourse patterns with feedback about the fertile days and other questions in relation to menstrual cycle function, sexual intercourse, stress, exposures to tobacco products, alcohol, caffeine and medications, fertility and pregnancy outcomes. In addition to presenting the study design, we review the recruitment experience for the Oxford Conception Study. We have achieved sustained and effective recruitment over time by primary use of recruiting via the Internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Issues with patient recruitment and enrollment are the primary barriers for missed clinical trial timelines; 8 out of 10 clinical trials are delayed or unable to be completed because of lack of timely patient recruitment. Current patient recruitment efforts are inefficient and time-consuming, since they are typically dependent on manually screening patients during face-to-face visits to the clinic or hospital. With the rapid development of digital communication platforms within health care and the broad consumer adoption of smartphones, there are increasing opportunities to overcome some of these barriers. These platforms have particularly great potential for research and clinical care of chronic conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an often debilitating disease which currently affects over three million adults in the United States. Objective: To integrate and utilize a digital medicine platform to improve patient recruitment and enrollment processes in clinical trials. Methods: Patients enrolled in the Mount Sinai Crohn's and Colitis Registry (MSCCR) were remotely approached about enrolling in a mindfulness study for IBD patients. A text-based clinical rules engine was used to inform registry patients about the trial and to allow patients to indicate interest in participating via text message. Eligible IBD patients were bulk "prescribed" a notification through RxHealth's digital medicine platform, RxUniverse. Characteristics of the enrolled population, characteristics of patients who responded, and timeliness of responses were analyzed. Results: Of the 1364 patients in the MSCCR with available phone numbers, 270 patients affirmatively replied they wanted to participate in to the study. Patients who opted into receiving more information about the study were more likely to have inadequate control of their IBD (25.64% vs 18.97%; P<.05) and more likely to have a recent history of depression based on a validated patient health questionnaire (15.38% vs 8.4%; P<.05) than those who opted out. Furthermore, patients who opted in tended to be younger, were more likely to be female, and less likely to have ulcerative colitis, though these trends did not reach statistical significance. Patient race did not significantly differ between those who opted in and opted out. In terms of timeliness of response among those enrolled, the majority of patients responded within 2 hours of notification. Conclusions: Digital medicine software platforms can facilitate large-scale, lower-effort recruitment of eligible patients for clinical trials. Future research should be done to explore their expanded use for recruitment, patient education, and study data collection. Additional technologies such as patient-powered networks, social media, e-recruiting bots, and other remote engagement platforms can aid clinical trials by saving time and reducing costs of patient recruitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To address limitations in recruitment and enrollment of diverse, low-literacy patients into prostate cancer clinical trials, we evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of an English and Spanish, Internet-based, multilevel recruitment intervention., Methods: Intervention components included (1) a low-literacy, bilingual, automated, Internet-based clinical trial matching tool; (2) a bilingual nurse who assisted individuals with questions and enrollment; and (3) a targeted, Internet-based advertising campaign. We evaluated (a) completion of matching tool, (b) expression of interest in a clinical trial, (c) number of patients who matched to clinical trials at a single institution, (d) discussion of risks and benefits of clinical trials (via follow-up interviews), and (e) effect of the advertising on completing the matching tool. Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary estimates of efficacy were measured through user engagement with the matching tool and subsequent qualitative interviews with these same users., Results: During the 28-week study period, 523 users provided demographic information, 263 were identified with prostate cancer, 192 (73%) matched to at least one clinical trial, and 29 (15.1%) of those who matched provided contact information. During the study period, 17 prostate cancer clinical trials were available for matching. We completed follow-up interviews with 14 of the 29 men who provided contact information. Of the 14, 85.7% discussed the risks and benefits of clinical trials with their physician, and 35.7% enrolled in a clinical trial. The Internet-based advertising campaign resulted in an increased number of matching tool completions., Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that an Internet-based clinical trial matching tool that is advertised using a targeted Internet-based campaign can provide an effective means to reach diverse, low-literacy patients. When implemented at scale and over a longer duration, such interventions may help increase trial participation among underrepresented populations.

This study details my viewpoint on the experiences, lessons, and assessments of conducting a national study on care-seeking behavior for heart attack in the United States utilizing the World Wide Web. The Yale Heart Study (YHS) was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Grounded on two prior studies, the YHS combined a Web-based interview survey instrument; ads placed on the Internet; flyers and posters in public libraries, senior centers, and rehabilitation centers; information on chat rooms; a viral marketing strategy; and print ads to attract potential participants to share their heart attack experiences. Along the way, the grant was transferred from Ohio State University (OSU) to Yale University, and significant administrative, information technology, and personnel challenges ensued that materially delayed the study's execution. Overall, the use of the Internet to collect data on care-seeking behavior is very time consuming and emergent. The cost of using the Web was approximately 31% less expensive than that of face-to-face interviews. However, the quality of the data may have suffered because of the absence of some data compared with interviewing participants. Yet the representativeness of the 1154 usable surveys appears good, with the exception of a dearth of African American participants., (©Angelo A Alonzo. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 13.10.2017.)

Background: Google AdWords, the placement of sponsored links in Google search results, is a potent method of recruitment to Internet-based health studies and interventions. However, the performance of Google AdWords varies considerably depending on the language and the location of the target audience.Objective: Our goal was to describe differences in AdWords performance when recruiting participants to the same study conducted in four languages and to determine whether AdWords campaigns can be optimized in order to increase recruitment while decreasing costs.Methods: Google AdWords were used to recruit participants to the Mood Screener, a multilingual online depression screening tool available in English, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese. Two distinct recruitment periods are described: (1) "Unmanaged", a 6-month period in which ads were allowed to run using only the AdWords tool itself, with no human intervention, and (2) "Managed", a separate 7-week period during which we systematically sought to optimize our recruitment campaigns.Results: During 6 months of unmanaged recruitment, our ads were shown over 1.3 million times, resulting in over 60,000 site visits. The average click-through rate (ratio of ads clicked to ads displayed) varied from 1.86% for Chinese ads to 8.48% for Russian ads, as did the average cost-per-click (from US $0.20 for Chinese ads to US $0.50 for English ads). Although Chinese speakers' click-through rate was lowest, their rate of consenting to participate was the highest, at 3.62%, with English speakers exhibiting the lowest consent rate (0.97%). The conversion cost (cost to recruit a consenting participant) varied from US $10.80 for Russian speakers to US $51.88 for English speakers. During the 7 weeks of "managed" recruitment, we attempted to improve AdWords' performance in regards to the consent rate and cost by systematically deleting underperforming ads and adjusting keywords. We were able to increase the number of people who consent after coming to the site by 91.8% while also decreasing per-consent cost by 23.3%.Conclusions: Our results illustrate the need to linguistically and culturally adapt Google AdWords campaigns and to manage them carefully to ensure the most cost-effective results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The growth in the number of patients seeking health information online has given rise to new direct-to-patient research methods, including direct patient recruitment and study conduct without use of physician sites. While such patient-centric designs offer time and cost efficiencies, the absence of physician-reported data is a key concern, with potential impact on both scientific rigor and operational feasibility. Objective: To (1) gain insight into the viability of collecting patient-reported outcomes and medical record information in a sample of gout patients through a direct-to-patient approach (ie, without the involvement of physician sites), and (2) evaluate the validity of patient-reported diagnoses collected during a patient-reported outcomes plus medical record (PRO+MR) direct-to-patient study. Methods: We invited a random sample of MediGuard.org members aged 18 to 80 years to participate via email based on a gout treatment or diagnosis in their online profiles. Interested members clicked on an email link to access study information, consent to participate electronically, and be screened for eligibility. The first 50 consenting participants completed an online survey and provided electronic and wet signatures on medical record release forms for us to obtain medical charts from their managing physicians. Results: A total of 108 of 1250 MediGuard.org members (8.64%) accessed study information before we closed the study at 50 completed surveys. Of these 108 members who took the screener, 50 (46.3%) completed the study, 19 (17.6%) did not pass the screening, 5 (4.6%) explicitly declined to participate due to the medical record requirement, and 34 (31.5%) closed the browser without completing the survey screener. Ultimately, we obtained 38 of 50 charts (76%): 28 collected using electronic signature and 10 collected based on wet signature on a paper form. Of the 38 charts, 37 cited a gout diagnosis (35 charts) or use of a gout medication (2 charts). Only 1 chart lacked any mention of gout. Conclusions: Patients can be recruited directly for observational study designs that include patient-reported outcomes and medical record data with over 75% data completeness. Although the validity of self-reported diagnosis is often a concern in Internet-based studies, in this PRO+MR study pilot, nearly all (37 of 38) charts confirmed patient-reported data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]