Recruitment experiences in randomized trial examining vision rehabilitation

It is widely recognised that recruitment to any randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating rehabilitation interventions can be challenging andtypically Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)[1] scores are an inclusion criterion in therapy trials. We commenced an RCT to examine the effectiveness of a vision rehabilitation strategy for people with hemianopia following stroke, recruited between 1st March 2008 and 7th August 2009 from 6 sites in Adelaide, Australia. The study is registered with the Australian Clinical Trials Registry, Registration Number: ACTRN12610000494033.

A total of 3019 people with stroke were admitted to the referring sites over the recruitment period and the number referred for screening for the project was 113, of which 34, a mere 30%, were eligible. Seventy-four were not eligible and 5 were unable to be screened to determine eligibility.