IBD recruitment

This page aims to demonstrate how a map can show the increase in recruitment over time, as the IBD BioResource has grown from a single hospital to more than a 100 NHS Trusts UK-wide.

Figure 1: Bubble map of recruitment to the IBD BioResource between 2015 and 2021, showing cumulative recruitment at each site

Bubble maps 

These maps show the recruitment over time of one the largest studies in the BioResource, the IBD BioResource. Each site is represented by a bubble, which grows proportionately with the number of participants. As new sites are added new bubbles are created, showing the geographical and numerical growth of the BioResource.

These maps are created by linking the participants to their site of recruitment and grouping them by year. Through the usage of these maps we can see that while at the program’s start it was largely focused in and around Cambridge in 2015, as the program grew so did its extent across the UK. Although there is still a large proportion of recruitment occurring in the Cambridge area, there is a large national extent. These maps also show a hotspot of recruitment in Dorchester from 2017 onwards.