• Daniel J van Wamelen, Silvia Rota, Monika Hartmann, Naomi H Martin, Ali M Alam, Rhys H Thomas, Katherine C Dodd, Thomas Jenkins, Craig J Smith, Michael S Zandi, Ava Easton, Georgina Carr, Laura A Benjamin, James B Lilleker, David Saucer, Alasdair J Coles, Nicholas Wood, Ray ChaudhuriKKParkinson Foundation Centre of Excellence at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and King's College London, United Kingdom; Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Division , Gerome Breen, Benedict Daniel Michael, and COVID-CNS consortium.
• Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience; Department of Neuroimaging; King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Parkinson Foundation Centre of Excellence at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and King's College London, United Kingdom; Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Department of Neurology; Centre of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Neuroscience; King's College London, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Daniel.van_Wamelen@kcl.ac.uk.
• Clin Med (Lond). 2024 May 1; 24 (3): 100209100209.

BackgroundMinority ethnic groups have often been underrepresented in research, posing a problem in relation to external validity and extrapolation of findings. Here, we aimed to assess recruitment and retainment strategies in a large observational study assessing neurological complications following SARS-CoV-2 infection.MethodsParticipants were recruited following confirmed infection with SARS-CoV-2 and hospitalisation. Self-reported ethnicity was recorded alongside other demographic data to identify potential barriers to recruitment.Results807 participants were recruited to COVID-CNS, and ethnicity data were available for 93.2%. We identified a proportionate representation of self-reported ethnicity categories, and distribution of broad ethnicity categories mirrored individual centres' catchment areas. White ethnicity within individual centres ranged between 44.5% and 89.1%, with highest percentage of participants with non-White ethnicity in London-based centres. Examples are provided how to reach potentially underrepresented minority ethnic groups.ConclusionsRecruitment barriers in relation to potentially underrepresented ethnic groups may be overcome with strategies identified here.Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

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