Social Media Recruitment and Vulnerability in Clinical Studies
Author Information
Author(s): Nina Matthes, Theresa Willem, Alena Buyx, Bettina M Zimmermann
Primary Institution: Technical University of Munich
Hypothesis
How can social media recruitment mitigate existing vulnerabilities in the context of clinical study recruitment?
Conclusion
Using social media for clinical study recruitment can both mitigate and aggravate potential study participants’ vulnerabilities.
Supporting Evidence
- Experts perceived social media recruitment as beneficial for reaching hard-to-reach populations.
- Social media can preserve patient privacy by allowing recruitment outside clinical settings.
- Social media recruitment may trigger vulnerabilities due to acontextual communication.
- Public exposure on social media can lead to privacy breaches and discrimination.
- Biased algorithms on social media may disproportionately affect disadvantaged groups.
- Technological barriers can exclude individuals lacking digital literacy or access.
Takeaway
This study looks at how using social media to find people for medical studies can help some but also make others feel more vulnerable.
Methodology
The study involved 30 qualitative interviews with experts and 6 patients with hepatitis B to explore the ethical, social, and regulatory issues of social media recruitment.
Potential Biases
Potential biases in social media algorithms may lead to underrepresentation of certain groups in clinical research.
Limitations
The study had a small sample size of patients due to COVID-19 restrictions, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.
Participant Demographics
Participants included 6 patients with hepatitis B and 30 multidisciplinary experts from various fields.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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