Digital Enrollment and Survey Response of Diverse Kidney Transplant Seekers in a Remote Trial (KidneyTIME): An Observational Study

Introduction: The feasibility of enrolling and retaining diverse kidney transplant (KT) seekers in remote studies is sparsely reported. Aims: This study examined the use of a mobile communication strategy to enroll and retain participants within a clinical trial of an automated digital intervention...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rhys Mendel, Jing Nie, Maria Keller, Yasmin Aly, Harneet Sandhu, Matthew Handmacher, Liise Kayler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Kidney and Dialysis
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8236/5/2/19
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Summary:Introduction: The feasibility of enrolling and retaining diverse kidney transplant (KT) seekers in remote studies is sparsely reported. Aims: This study examined the use of a mobile communication strategy to enroll and retain participants within a clinical trial of an automated digital intervention to promote self-learning for kidney transplant access. Materials and Methods: Adult KT-seekers were identified from an administrative database at a transplant center and recruited by email or text supplemented by verbal prompts. Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore participant- and study-level characteristics associated with enrollment and response rates. Results: Between April 2022 and June 2023, 743 patients were invited to participate, and 422 were enrolled. Enrollers were more likely to be younger (aOR 1.02; <i>p</i> < 0.001). Early enrollment was associated with text message invitation (OR 2.69, <i>p</i> ≤ 0.014). Survey completion at 1 month was similar across patient sociodemographic, clinical, and study characteristics; however, participants self-reporting Black race were underrepresented at month 6 (OR 0.55, <i>p</i> = 0.015) and month 12 (aOR 0.37, <i>p</i> = 0008), and males were underrepresented at month 12 (aOR 0.45, <i>p</i> = 0.028). Conclusion: Mobile communication methods are viable for enrolling diverse KT-seeking patients and collecting survey data remotely. More work is needed to learn how to best recruit older people and retain diverse groups long-term.
ISSN:2673-8236