Interactive Nutrition Comics for Urban Minority Youth (Intervention INC) is an innovative, web-based interactive comic tool for dietary self-management, which aims to decrease obesity risk among urban minority preadolescents. The feasibility and acceptability of Intervention INC was assessed by implementing a two-group randomized pilot study. To date, intervention studies have typically faced various barriers in recruiting and retaining study participants. The purpose of this paper is to describe recruitment and retention activities from this study and in particular, discuss challenges faced, strategies implemented, and lessons learned. Black/AA and Latino children (ages 9–12 years) and their parent/guardian were recruited from East Harlem/Harlem, New York. Recruitment strategies included flyering in the community, having a convenient study location, providing participation incentives, and partnering with community/school-based organizations. Potential participants were screened for eligibility; enrollees completed online surveys and interviews at baseline (T1), intervention midpoint (T2), intervention end (T3), and 3-months post-intervention (T4). Retention strategies included flexible scheduling, reminder calls/texts, incremental compensation, and consistent study staff. Eighty-nine enrolled dyads completed a T1 visit (August to November 2017) and were randomized to the experimental (E, n = 45) or comparison (C, n = 44) group. Enrolled dyads learned about the study through community events (39%), community flyering (34%), friend/referral (15%), or a community clinic partner (12%). T1 child demographics were mean age = 10.4 ± 1.0 years, 61% female, 62% Black and 42% Latino, and 51% overweight/obese; parent demographics were mean age = 30.8 ± 8.9 years, 94% female, and 55% Black and 45% Latino. Survey completion rates by dyad were high throughout the study: T2, 87%; T3, 89%; and T4, 84%. Average data collection per session was 65 min. Parents at T4 (n = 76) felt they received enough study information (97%) and that their questions were answered properly (80%). Eighty-one percent of children at T4 (n = 75) were very satisfied/extremely satisfied with how study staff communicated and interacted with them. Effective recruitment strategies consisted of community events and flyering, while a variety of retention strategies were also used to successfully engage urban Black/AA and Latino families in this study. Though our findings are limited to only Latino and Black families in low-income neighborhoods, we have identified successful strategies for this specific high-risk population and potentially similar others. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03165474 , registered 15 May 2017

中文翻译：

---

一项基于网络的试点干预措施的关键招募和保留策略，以降低少数族裔青年的肥胖风险

城市少数民族青年互动营养漫画 (Intervention INC) 是一种创新的、基于网络的互动漫画工具，用于饮食自我管理，旨在降低城市少数民族青春期前儿童的肥胖风险。Intervention INC 的可行性和可接受性通过实施一项两组随机试验研究进行了评估。迄今为止，干预研究在招募和留住研究参与者方面通常面临各种障碍。本文的目的是描述本研究中的招聘和保留活动，特别是讨论面临的挑战、实施的战略和吸取的教训。从纽约东哈莱姆区/哈莱姆区招募黑人/AA 和拉丁裔儿童（9-12 岁）及其父母/监护人。招聘策略包括在社区中飞行，拥有方便的学习地点，提供参与激励，并与社区/学校组织合作。筛选潜在参与者的资格；参与者在基线 (T1)、干预中点 (T2)、干预结束 (T3) 和干预后 3 个月 (T4) 完成了在线调查和访谈。保留策略包括灵活的日程安排、提醒电话/短信、增加补偿和一致的研究人员。89 名登记的 dyads 完成了 T1 访问（2017 年 8 月至 2017 年 11 月），并被随机分配到实验组（E，n = 45）或比较组（C，n = 44）。参加者通过社区活动 (39%)、社区飞行 (34%)、朋友/推荐 (15%) 或社区诊所合作伙伴 (12%) 了解了这项研究。T1 儿童人口统计数据平均年龄 = 10.4 ± 1.0 岁，61% 为女性，62% 黑人和 42% 拉丁裔，以及 51% 超重/肥胖；父母人口统计数据为平均年龄 = 30.8 ± 8.9 岁，94% 为女性，55% 为黑人，45% 为拉丁裔。在整个研究过程中，双人组的调查完成率很高：T2，87%；T3, 89%; 和 T4，84%。每个会话的平均数据收集时间为 65 分钟。T4 (n = 76) 的父母认为他们收到了足够的学习信息 (97%) 并且他们的问题得到了正确的回答 (80%)。T4 (n = 75) 81% 的儿童对研究人员与他们的沟通和互动方式非常满意/非常满意。有效的招聘策略包括社区活动和传单，而各种保留策略也被用来成功地让城市黑人/AA 和拉丁裔家庭参与本研究。尽管我们的研究结果仅限于低收入社区的拉丁裔和黑人家庭，但我们已经确定了针对这一特定高风险人群和可能类似的其他人群的成功策略。ClinicalTrials.gov，NCT03165474，2017 年 5 月 15 日注册