Finding orthopedic patients lost to follow-up for long-term outcomes research using the Internet: an update for 2012.
The Internet is available to researchers as a tool for studying long-term outcomes, but no recent research exists on how to best use it. The authors hypothesize that using the Internet can be at least 75% effective in locating patients lost to follow-up. With Institutional Review Board approval, the authors searched for 66 patients lost to follow-up after a period of 10 years or more with no contact. They tested an Internet searching protocol developed in 2004 and developed an alternate protocol. In all, 74% (49/66) of patients were located.
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115, USA. dllouie@partners.org
Dexter L
DL
Louie
Brandon E
BE
Earp
Philip E
PE
Blazar
D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057225:Data Mining / Q000379:methods*; D055991:Health Records, Personal; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D059012:Lost to Follow-Up; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010361:Patients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data