Seminars May Increase Recruitment To Randomised Controlled Trials: Lessons Learned From WISDOM

Method: Female patients aged between 50 and 69 years were sent letters from participating general practitioners in Adelaide inviting them to participate in WISDOM and attend an initial seminar providing information about HT and the trial prior to a screening interview with a trial nurse. The seminars were conducted on multiple occasions in local community centres and presented a balanced account of the limited evidence for HT in chronic disease prevention and quality of life. The need for a 15 year placebo randomised controlled trial was explained together with the WISDOM trial protocol. This allowed the audience to screen themselves for inclusion and exclusion criteria, ask questions or listen to other women’s comments. Trial recruitment rates for those who did or did not attend group seminars were compared.