Fig. 4: Participant Demographic and Recruitment Pathways.

a Participants recruited via targeted hybrid recruitment had a higher level of deprivation compared with participants recruited via traditional and digital recruitment strategies (both p < 0.001), and participants recruited through the targeted hybrid were younger compared to the other groups (Kruskal-Wallis p < 0.001). b Gender was not a statistically significant measure for differences in recruitment strategies. c The proportion of participants from groups historically underrepresented in research differed significantly by recruitment method (p < 0.001). Participant reported confidence filling out medical forms was evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale, where significance is observed in traditional and targeted hybrid strategies (p < 0.001) and targeted hybrid and digital strategies (p = 0.0028). d The Sankey diagram depicts recruitment flow from one node to another beginning with consent type (consenting 18–21, or assenting 13–17), followed by recruitment class (Digital, Traditional, or Hybrid), recruitment strategy (the primary pathway of recruitment), and recruitment sub-strategy (the secondary pathway of recruitment).