Purpose. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine the efficacy of a novel aggressive method, which employs four basic theories of social work, for recruiting subjects to clinical trials Methods. Breast and prostate cancer patients were recruited in waves at 13 cancer centers for participation in a clinical trial. Each wave was randomly assigned to recruitment by the aggressive method (N = 85 breast cancer patients; N = 192 prostate cancer patients) or the passive control (N = 389 breast cancer patients; N = 443 prostate cancer patients) Results. The accrual for breast cancer patients recruited by the aggressive method was 48% compared to 26% for the passive method (p < .0001) The accrual for prostate cancer patients recruited by the aggressive method was 31% compared to 15% for the passive method (p < .0001) Discussion. The results demonstrate a highly significant advantage to employing the basic principles of social work in aggressive attempts to recruit subjects to clinical trials
