In clinical research, what is "subject recruitment"?

Subject recruitment refers to the systematic process of identifying and enrolling eligible participants for a clinical trial. This involves various steps, such as defining inclusion and exclusion criteria to ensure that the selected subjects meet the necessary requirements for the study. Effective recruitment is crucial because it ensures that the trial can proceed with a representative sample of the population intended to be studied, thereby enhancing the validity and reliability of the research findings.

The recruitment process may include strategies for outreach, advertising for participants, and screening potential candidates to confirm their eligibility based on the study's criteria. Successful subject recruitment is essential in achieving sufficient enrollment numbers to complete a study on schedule and obtain meaningful results that can contribute to medical knowledge.