Taxonomy of chronic illness research recruitment: a restricted scoping review
Taxonomy of chronic illness research recruitment: a restricted scoping review
Background: chronic illness prevalence is increasing and research recruitment in these populations remains challenging. Individuals with chronic illness often have poorer quality of life, restricted access to hospitals where research occurs, and can be reluctant to participate. Researchers need multiple simultaneous strategies to achieve success. No taxonomy of recruitment factors in chronic illness research could be identified in the literature. This paper aims to describe a comprehensive taxonomy of recruitment for chronic illness research (inclusive of a nursing focus) to inform the design and reporting of recruitment strategies by creating a list of practical questions.
Methods: a restricted scoping review was conducted on articles reporting on recruitment factors in chronic illness research. Main search restrictions were the number of years and databases searched with broad eligibility criteria. Included articles were critically assessed and data extracted. A code book was used to examine findings and results sections line by line, both deductively and inductively. The final codebook and the content of the codes informed the taxonomy construction and the practical questions.
Results: core components of research recruitment were identified as people, place, and project. The component of People included factors of researchers, clinicians, recruiters, and participants roles. The component of Place included factors of national or local research oversight institutions, healthcare environments, and community spaces. Finally, the component of Project included factors of research design, participant research journey, and research promotion. The final taxonomy informed a practical list of questions to aid researchers in the design and reporting of research recruitment strategies.
Conclusions: the chronic illness research recruitment taxonomy describes and characterises factors reported to impact on research recruitment. It provides a framework for designing and reporting on recruitment strategies. While the taxonomy requires further testing, it is the first to offer a broad characterisation of recruitment factors in chronic illness research.
Restricted review, Qualitative synthesis, Mixed methods, Taxonomy, Facilitators and barriers, Research trials, Recruitment
Austin, Rosalynn C.
87409146-cd3c-40c3-afe1-e9bdf9846df1
Karlsen, Bjørg
9ed716ee-60e3-4c4c-a52e-f773b30119dd
Richardson, Alison
3db30680-aa47-43a5-b54d-62d10ece17b7
Elwyn, Glyn
dd0ada9e-9b87-4734-9f9c-9a914d5e200a
Storm, Marianne
6ca0f33b-e4cd-4a69-996b-79457b5ef732
Husebø, Anne M.L.
34b7b8d8-a7d4-4359-9ab3-8ae4e3559b9f
Urstad, Kristin H.
9d74949a-e6b7-46d3-9f72-3293a799c19d
29 July 2025
Austin, Rosalynn C.
87409146-cd3c-40c3-afe1-e9bdf9846df1
Karlsen, Bjørg
9ed716ee-60e3-4c4c-a52e-f773b30119dd
Richardson, Alison
3db30680-aa47-43a5-b54d-62d10ece17b7
Elwyn, Glyn
dd0ada9e-9b87-4734-9f9c-9a914d5e200a
Storm, Marianne
6ca0f33b-e4cd-4a69-996b-79457b5ef732
Husebø, Anne M.L.
34b7b8d8-a7d4-4359-9ab3-8ae4e3559b9f
Urstad, Kristin H.
9d74949a-e6b7-46d3-9f72-3293a799c19d
Austin, Rosalynn C., Karlsen, Bjørg, Richardson, Alison, Elwyn, Glyn, Storm, Marianne, Husebø, Anne M.L. and Urstad, Kristin H.
(2025)
Taxonomy of chronic illness research recruitment: a restricted scoping review.
BMC Health Services Research, 25 (1), [986].
(doi:10.1186/s12913-025-13115-8).
Abstract
Background: chronic illness prevalence is increasing and research recruitment in these populations remains challenging. Individuals with chronic illness often have poorer quality of life, restricted access to hospitals where research occurs, and can be reluctant to participate. Researchers need multiple simultaneous strategies to achieve success. No taxonomy of recruitment factors in chronic illness research could be identified in the literature. This paper aims to describe a comprehensive taxonomy of recruitment for chronic illness research (inclusive of a nursing focus) to inform the design and reporting of recruitment strategies by creating a list of practical questions.
Methods: a restricted scoping review was conducted on articles reporting on recruitment factors in chronic illness research. Main search restrictions were the number of years and databases searched with broad eligibility criteria. Included articles were critically assessed and data extracted. A code book was used to examine findings and results sections line by line, both deductively and inductively. The final codebook and the content of the codes informed the taxonomy construction and the practical questions.
Results: core components of research recruitment were identified as people, place, and project. The component of People included factors of researchers, clinicians, recruiters, and participants roles. The component of Place included factors of national or local research oversight institutions, healthcare environments, and community spaces. Finally, the component of Project included factors of research design, participant research journey, and research promotion. The final taxonomy informed a practical list of questions to aid researchers in the design and reporting of research recruitment strategies.
Conclusions: the chronic illness research recruitment taxonomy describes and characterises factors reported to impact on research recruitment. It provides a framework for designing and reporting on recruitment strategies. While the taxonomy requires further testing, it is the first to offer a broad characterisation of recruitment factors in chronic illness research.
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s12913-025-13115-8
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Accepted/In Press date: 27 June 2025
Published date: 29 July 2025
Keywords:
Restricted review, Qualitative synthesis, Mixed methods, Taxonomy, Facilitators and barriers, Research trials, Recruitment
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 504035
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/504035
ISSN: 1472-6963
PURE UUID: 23176878-8e21-4971-952f-b46f05155bb8
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Date deposited: 21 Aug 2025 16:04
Last modified: 18 Oct 2025 01:44
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Contributors
Author:
Rosalynn C. Austin
Author:
Bjørg Karlsen
Author:
Glyn Elwyn
Author:
Marianne Storm
Author:
Anne M.L. Husebø
Author:
Kristin H. Urstad
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