The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) recently launched Fox Insight – a virtual, longitudinal, observational study collecting patient reported outcome data (e.g., physical and emotional health, quality of life, healthcare utilization) from 125,000 people with PD and healthy controls over 5 years. 25,000 participants have enrolled to date.

A baseline (pre-intervention) period, identified as 6-weeks with no special promotion (Group 1), was compared to unique Facebook and Google ad campaigns targeting specific PD subgroups [early/late stage PD, those living in underrepresented geographic areas (Groups 2-4)], and to a more general online promotion of the study (Group 5).

Each digital campaign was successful in recruiting more total subjects compared to baseline, while only one (targeting underrepresented geographic areas based on zip code) was successful in recruiting a significantly higher proportion of the targeted population. The five groups differed significantly on key variables. For example, compared to baseline, early and late stage PD focused campaigns recruited a more diverse population overall, with respect to demographics (more low-income, less highly educated, less prior clinical participation, higher proportion of Hispanic/Latino participants) and medical history (more medical comorbidities).  

 Targeted digital recruitment methods have potential to diversify the demographic and clinical composition of the Fox Insight cohort and those enrolled in PD research studies at-large.