Study shows importance of autonomy in social media recruitment for clinical trials

Medical Xpress May 22, 2025
Deann Gayman, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Clinical trials are a crucial step in medical research, and without adequate numbers of participants, treatments can be delayed or prevented from reaching the health care market.

But recruiting participants for clinical trials is challenging for a variety of reasons—time constraints, hesitation about safety and lack of awareness are just a few.

Social media, especially short-form videos, has emerged as a potent tool to expand knowledge of and recruitment to clinical trials, and new research from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Ciera Kirkpatrick suggests there is a formula for impactful messaging that can reduce negative emotions and improve attitudes toward participation.

“Only about 5% of Americans have been in a clinical trial, so that’s super low,” Kirkpatrick, assistant professor of advertising...

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