title: Recruitment of women in the National Children's Study Initial Vanguard Study.
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.
authors.forename: Dean
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sweeney
authors.forename: Lacey
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McCormack
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Durkin
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brenner
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dabelea
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Entwisle
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012494:Sampling Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: National Children's Study; birth cohort; children; epidemiology; population; recruitment; sampling