Recruitment of Women in the National Children's Study Initial Vanguard Study

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: The initial Vanguard Study of the National Children's Study was conducted during 2009-2010 in 7 locations in the United States. A goal was to evaluate the feasibility and yield of a household-based sampling design to recruit pregnant women. A multistage area probability sampling design was used to identify study locations (generally, counties) that were subsequently divided into smaller geographical units, termed segments. Between 7 and 18 segments were selected in each location, and dwelling units within segments were listed. A household-based recruitment process was implemented, which included enumeration of households to identify age-eligible women, pregnancy screening to identify pregnant women eligible for immediate enrollment and nonpregnant women for telephone follow-up, and administration of informed consent to eligible women. After a recruitment period of 17-20 months, 67,181 (89%) households were enumerated, which identified 34,172 (88%) age-eligible women to whom the pregnancy screener was administered. Among those who completed the screener, 2,285 women became eligible for enrollment, of whom 1,399 (61%) enrolled. Although response rates were fairly high at initial contact and among pregnant women, the overall yield was lower than anticipated. In particular, telephone follow-up of nonpregnant women was not a practicable strategy for prospective recruitment of newly pregnant women.

Source: American Journal of Epidemiology

DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwu062

Authors: D. Baker, C. Park, C. Sweeney, L. McCormack, M. Durkin, R. Brenner, D. Dabelea, B. Entwisle

Institutions: University of California, Irvine, National Institutes of Health, South Dakota State University, Colorado School of Public Health

Language: English

Topic: Survey Methodology and Nonresponse

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, South Dakota State University, National Institutes of Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, College of Arts and Sciences, University of North Carolina, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah, College of Education and Human Sciences, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

OpenAlex ID: W2104076818