Lessons learned on recruiting dyads for mild cognitive impairment clinical trials

Background Previous research has shown that up to one‐third of patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) demonstrate resistance to acceptance of the diagnosis, which may contribute to reduced engagement in clinical research activities including interventional trials. Method This study explored researchers’ experiences to recruit 18 dyads from a U.S. Alzheimer’s Research Center to participate in a nine‐month duration, pilot, platform trial of biopsychosocial interventions for persons with MCI and their study partner. Thirty‐nine individuals with MCI met the inclusion criteria for the study. The MCI‐study partner dyads were contacted by mail and phone solicitation for recruitment. Thematic analysis of recruitment case notes was used to track the number of telephone contacts, reasons for interest/disinterest in participation, and questions about the study. Result Whereas many participants with MCI were interested and willing to enroll (92.3%), frequently study partners were not willing to enroll (53.8%). Study partners primarily consisted of male spouses with a mean age of 67. Study partners reported reasons for disinterest including being unavailable to participate in research sessions (due to availability or geographical distance) and lack of knowledge on MCI or the benefit of research involvement. Further data on the characteristics of study partners in regards to their willingness to engage in research will be presented. Conclusion Recruiting persons with MCI and their study partners for clinical trials research may require specialized communication messaging and strategies for dyad engagement. Strategies should target study partners by promoting the opportunities and potential benefits of MCI clinical trials while considering challenges to involvement due to availability (e.g., weekend meetings, remote offerings, and attempting to lessen the burden of research engagement), rather than focusing recruitment efforts solely on the participant. Further studies exploring strategies to educate and engage study partners to enhance recruitment into MCI research is warranted.