# Evaluating recruitment, retention and adherence patterns in the GET FIT fall prevention exercise trial in older, postmenopausal cancer survivors

## TL;DR

This study evaluated recruitment and adherence in a fall prevention exercise trial for older cancer survivors, finding effective strategies and factors affecting participation.

## Contribution

The study identifies effective recruitment methods and health-related factors influencing adherence in postmenopausal cancer survivors.

## Key findings

- Accrual rate was 30%, with EHR screening yielding no participants.
- Retention over 12 months was 87%, with most dropouts in the first month.
- Poor adherers had higher BMI, comorbidities, and lower physical functioning.

## Abstract

The GET FIT trial tested fall prevention exercise approaches in older (50–75 years) post-chemotherapy, postmenopausal cancer survivors. We describe recruitment, retention, and adherence patterns from GET FIT to inform future trials.

Participants were recruited through multiple strategies (e.g., cancer and research registries, clinician referral, outreach, electronic health record (EHR) screening) and were randomized to one of three supervised, facility-based, group exercise programs for six months. We compared effectiveness of accrual across recruitment strategies, examined characteristics of women who completed the interventions to those who withdrew, and women with good (≥ 50%) versus poor (< 50%) adherence to training.

Of 1490 interested women, 442 women were eligible, randomized, and received the assigned intervention (30% accrual rate). Accrual was similar across recruitment strategies, except for EHR screening which yielded no accruals. Retention over 12 months was 87% with most dropouts occurring within the first month. There were no differences in baseline characteristics between women who did or did not drop out. Poor adherers (n = 60) had higher baseline BMI, comorbidities, pain, disability and lower physical functioning (p < 0.05) compared to more adherent women (n = 377).

A variety of recruitment strategies appear to be effective for enrolling older, postmenopausal cancer survivors into a facility-based exercise trial, except for directly approaching women identified through the EHR. Women with poorer health were at risk for study drop-out and poor adherence to exercise.