Feasibility of using a patient portal to recruit Latino adults into a smoking cessation and physical activity randomized clinical trial: A secondary analysis

TY - JOUR

T1 - Feasibility of using a patient portal to recruit Latino adults into a smoking cessation and physical activity randomized clinical trial

T2 - A secondary analysis

AU - Chavez Uceda, Victoria

AU - Orfin, Rafael H.

AU - Panizoni, Estefania

AU - LanzDuret-Hernandez, Julia

AU - Hurtado-de-Mendoza, Alejandra

AU - Chávez-Iñiguez, Arlette

AU - Fuller, Daniel

AU - Marquez, David X.

AU - Ossip, Deborah J.

AU - Li, Dongmei

AU - Vasquez, Elizabeth

AU - Ramos-Santiago, Jeffrey W.

AU - Carter Bawa, Lisa

AU - Aleese, Rachel M.

AU - Yousefi Nooraie, Reza

AU - Mcintosh, Scott

AU - Cupertino, Ana Paula

AU - Cartujano-Barrera, Francisco

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 Chavez Uceda V. et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

PY - 2026/7

Y1 - 2026/7

N2 - INTRODUCTION Emerging efforts are using patient portals to send recruitment messages to potential participants in randomized clinical trials (RCTs). We assessed the feasibility of using a patient portal to recruit Latino adults into a smoking cessation and physical activity RCT. METHODS Secondary analysis of an ongoing RCT. In 2025, the electronic health record (EHR) at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) was utilized to identify patients with the following characteristics: Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, aged 18 years, currently smoking cigarettes, and seen at URMC within the last five years. Identified patients with an active account on MyChart®, the patient portal at URMC, were messaged up to two times. The study team made up to five phone call attempts to patients who expressed interest in further explaining the study and completing eligibility screening. Feasibility was defined as exceeding a 1% overall enrollment rate (number of patients who enrolled divided by the number of patients invited). RESULTS Two thousand patients were identified in the EHR at URMC as potentially eligible. A total of 1122 patients had an active MyChart account and were messaged (56.1%, 1122/2000). One hundred thirty patients viewed the message (11.6%, 130/1122) and 53 responded as interested in the study (4.7%, 53/1122). The study team successfully enrolled thirteen patients, resulting in an overall enrollment rate of 1.2% (13/1122). CONCLUSIONS It is feasible to use a patient portal to recruit Latino adults into a smoking cessation and physical activity RCT. While modest, our overall enrollment rate provides important evidence to inform future recruitment efforts, particularly given its high reach and low implementation effort.

AB - INTRODUCTION Emerging efforts are using patient portals to send recruitment messages to potential participants in randomized clinical trials (RCTs). We assessed the feasibility of using a patient portal to recruit Latino adults into a smoking cessation and physical activity RCT. METHODS Secondary analysis of an ongoing RCT. In 2025, the electronic health record (EHR) at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) was utilized to identify patients with the following characteristics: Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, aged 18 years, currently smoking cigarettes, and seen at URMC within the last five years. Identified patients with an active account on MyChart®, the patient portal at URMC, were messaged up to two times. The study team made up to five phone call attempts to patients who expressed interest in further explaining the study and completing eligibility screening. Feasibility was defined as exceeding a 1% overall enrollment rate (number of patients who enrolled divided by the number of patients invited). RESULTS Two thousand patients were identified in the EHR at URMC as potentially eligible. A total of 1122 patients had an active MyChart account and were messaged (56.1%, 1122/2000). One hundred thirty patients viewed the message (11.6%, 130/1122) and 53 responded as interested in the study (4.7%, 53/1122). The study team successfully enrolled thirteen patients, resulting in an overall enrollment rate of 1.2% (13/1122). CONCLUSIONS It is feasible to use a patient portal to recruit Latino adults into a smoking cessation and physical activity RCT. While modest, our overall enrollment rate provides important evidence to inform future recruitment efforts, particularly given its high reach and low implementation effort.

KW - Latino adults

KW - electronic health record

KW - patient portal

KW - physical activity

KW - smoking cessation

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105046079996

U2 - 10.18332/tid/219277

DO - 10.18332/tid/219277

M3 - Article

SN - 2070-7266

VL - 24

JO - Tobacco Induced Diseases

JF - Tobacco Induced Diseases

M1 - 127

ER -