Abstract
Background
Researchers are increasingly using social media to recruit participants to surveys
and clinical studies. However, the evidence of the efficacy and validity of adolescent
recruitment through Facebook is yet to be established.
Objective
To conduct a systematic review of the literature on the use of Facebook to recruit
adolescents for health research.
Data Sources
Nine electronic databases and reference lists were searched for articles published
between 2004 and 2013.
Study Eligibility Criteria
Studies were included in the review if: 1) participants were aged ≥10 to ≤18 years,
2) studies addressed a physical or mental health issue, 3) Facebook was identified
as a recruitment tool, 4) recruitment details using Facebook were outlined in the
methods section and considered in the discussion, or information was obtained by contacting
the authors, 5) results revealed how many participants were recruited using Facebook,
and 6) studies addressed how adolescent consent and/or parental consent was obtained.
Study Appraisals and Synthesis Methods
Titles, abstracts, and keywords were scanned and duplicates removed by 2 reviewers.
Full text was evaluated for inclusion criteria, and 2 reviewers independently extracted
data.
Results
The search resulted in 587 publications, of which 25 full-text papers were analyzed.
Six studies met all the criteria for inclusion in the review. Three recruitment methods
using Facebook was identified: 1) paid Facebook advertising, 2) use of the Facebook
search tool, and 3) creation and use of a Facebook Page.
Conclusions
Eligible studies described the use of paid Facebook advertising and Facebook as a
search tool as methods to successfully recruit adolescent participants. Online and
verbal consent was obtained from participants recruited from Facebook.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Accepted:
May 31,
2014
Received:
March 12,
2014
Footnotes
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
