SynthesisPublic health nutrition2021
Recruiting and retaining young adults: what can we learn from behavioural interventions targeting nutrition, physical activity and/or obesity? A systematic review of the literature.
Synthesis in Public health nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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
33 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Health behaviour interventions to improve mental health outcomes for students in the university setting: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Pooled it
- Strategies to improve recruitment to multicomponent group programs for overweight and obesity: a systematic review.Frontiers in health services · 2025Pooled it
- Investigating Web-Based Nutrition Education Interventions for Promoting Sustainable and Healthy Diets in Young Adults: A Systematic Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of an Online Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Randomised Controlled Trial Targeting Addictive and Compulsive Overeating Among Australian Young Adults.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Trial
- Feasibility of a co-designed and personalised intervention to improve vegetable intake in rural-dwelling young adults.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Efficacy of technology-based personalised feedback on diet quality in young Australian adults: results for the advice, ideas and motivation for my eating (Aim4Me) randomised controlled trial.Public health nutrition · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Recruitment and retention of emerging adults in lifestyle interventions: Findings from the REACH trial.Contemporary clinical trials · 2022Trial
- Using electronic health record phenotyping to guide extraction of markers of transition to adulthood in young adults with severe chronic illness: A proposed conceptual framework.Nursing outlook · 2026Article
- The relationship between weight, eating behaviours and mental health over time in the YOUTH longitudinal cohort study.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2026Article
- Article
- A Sedentary Behaviour Reduction Programme in Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease: A Mixed-Method Feasibility Study.International journal of vascular medicine · 2026Article
- The Impact of Financial Incentives on Completion of a No Money No Time 6-Week Culinary Nutrition eHealth Challenge.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Article
- Article
- Review
- Trusted Sources of Information and COVID-19 Vaccination Among Black Adults in Chicago.American journal of health promotion : AJHP · 2024Article
- University Food Environment Assessment Methods and Their Implications: Protocol for a Systematic Review.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo describe strategies used to recruit and retain young adults in nutrition, physical activity and/or obesity intervention studies, and quantify the success and efficiency of these strategies.
designA systematic review was conducted. The search included six electronic databases to identify randomised controlled trials (RCT) published up to 6 December 2019 that evaluated nutrition, physical activity and/or obesity interventions in young adults (17-35 years). Recruitment was considered successful if the pre-determined sample size goal was met. Retention was considered acceptable if ≥80 % retained for ≤6-month follow-up or ≥70 % for >6-month follow-up.
resultsFrom 21 582 manuscripts identified, 107 RCT were included. Universities were the most common recruitment setting used in eighty-four studies (79 %). Less than half (46 %) of the studies provided sufficient information to evaluate whether individual recruitment strategies met sample size goals, with 77 % successfully achieving recruitment targets. Reporting for retention was slightly better with 69 % of studies providing sufficient information to determine whether individual retention strategies achieved adequate retention rates. Of these, 65 % had adequate retention.
conclusionsThis review highlights poor reporting of recruitment and retention information across trials. Findings may not be applicable outside a university setting. Guidance on how to improve reporting practices to optimise recruitment and retention strategies within young adults could assist researchers in improving outcomes.
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.