ArticleBMC medical research methodology2020
Factors affecting adolescents' participation in randomized controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of healthcare interventions: the case of the STEPSTONES project.
Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Experiences and perspectives of children and adolescents participating in pediatric clinical trials: a qualitative evidence synthesis.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Pooled it
- Tezepelumab in real-world US patients with severe asthma across phenotypes and underrepresented populations: the phase 4 PASSAGE study.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2026Trial
- Acceptability of Suubi+Adherence intervention to improve ART adherence in Southern Uganda: A qualitative analysis.PloS one · 2026Trial
- Implementation fidelity of a transition program for adolescents with congenital heart disease: the STEPSTONES project.BMC health services research · 2022Trial
- Mechanisms of impact and experiences of a person-centred transition programme for adolescents with CHD: the Stepstones project.BMC health services research · 2021Trial
- A personalised nutrition intervention for adolescent depression: a mixed-methods feasibility pilot study.The British journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Adolescents' Engagement With an mHealth Multiple Health Behavior Change Intervention (LIFE4YOUth): Mixed Methods and Qualitative Comparative Analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- An e-health transition intervention for youth with brain-based disabilities: Pilot and feasibility results from a Randomized Controlled Trial.Health care transitions · 2026Article
- Article
- Stakeholder perspectives on implementing person-centered transitional care in congenital heart disease: the STEPSTONES-Implement project.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Evaluation of person-centred care within the Stepstones transition program for adolescents with congenital heart disease - a document analysis.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2025Article
- Factors that affect clinical youth engagement in digital mental health research: a qualitative sub-study nested within a prospective cohort study.BMC medical research methodology · 2025Observational
- Parents' and children's experiences of participating in a randomized controlled clinical trial: AIDIT-QS.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2024Article
- Recruitment and retention challenges and strategies in randomized controlled trials of psychosocial interventions for children with cancer and their parents: a collective case study.European journal of pediatrics · 2023Article
- Recruitment and retention into longitudinal health research from an adolescent perspective: a qualitative study.BMC medical research methodology · 2023Article
- Eligible-and-enrolled vs. eligible-but-not-enrolled patients with chronic ischaemic heart failure in randomized clinical trials of myocardial regeneration.Postepy w kardiologii interwencyjnej = Advances in interventional cardiology · 2022Article
- Best practices for recruitment of adolescents for biobanking and precision health research: a retrospective analysis comparing juvenile idiopathic arthritis cases with healthy controls.Pediatric rheumatology online journal · 2021Article
- When face-to-face interviews are not possible: tips and tricks for video, telephone, online chat, and email interviews in qualitative research.European journal of cardiovascular nursing · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRecruitment of adolescents to intervention studies is a known challenge. For randomized controlled trials (RCT) to be generalizable, reach must be assessed, which means ascertaining how many of the intended population actually participated in the trial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reach and representativeness of an RCT evaluating the effectiveness of a complex intervention for adolescents with chronic conditions.
methodsA mixed methods sequential explanatory design was employed. Firstly, quantitative cross-sectional data from the RCT, patient registries and medical records were collected and analysed regarding baseline differences between participants and non-participants in the trial. Secondly, qualitative data on their reasons for participating or not were collected and analysed with content analysis to explain the quantitative findings.
resultsParticipants showed larger differences in effect sizes and a significantly more complex chronic condition than non-participants. No other statistically significant differences were reported, and effect sizes were negligible. Reasons for declining or accepting participation were categorized into three main categories: altruistic reasons, personal reasons and external reasons and factors.
conclusionsIntegration of quantitative and qualitative findings showed that participation in the RCT was affected by disease complexity, the perceived need to give back to healthcare and research and the adolescents' willingness to engage in their illness. To empower adolescents with chronic conditions and motivate them to participate in research, future intervention studies should consider developing tailored recruitment strategies and communications with sub-groups that are harder to reach.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.