title: What we have learned about best practices for recruitment and retention in multicenter pregnancy studies.
abstract: For 30 years, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network has had significant impact on clinical practice in obstetrics. The MFMU Network has conducted 50 randomized clinical trials and observational studies designed to improve pregnancy outcomes for mothers and children. Each center has a designated clinical research nurse coordinator who coordinates the day-to-day operations of each trial and leads a research team that is responsible for recruitment and retention of participants. Some of the lessons learned by the nurse coordinators over the past 30 years are described with examples from recent studies. Best practices that we have amassed from our experience are also described.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX, 77555. Electronic address: assalaza@utmb.edu.
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salazar
authors.affiliation: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tolivaisa
authors.affiliation: Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, Brown University, Providence, RI.
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Allard
authors.affiliation: Duke University, Durham, NC.
authors.forename: Tammy S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Bishop
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bousleiman
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC.
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Case-Western Reserve University,MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dalton
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
authors.forename: Stacy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO.
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hale
authors.affiliation: University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, UT.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
authors.forename: Francee
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mallett
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moseley
authors.affiliation: McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Felecia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.affiliation: Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Willson
authors.affiliation: George Washington University, Washington, DC.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Thom
mesh_terms: D019985:Benchmarking; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D054582:National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U.S.); D009774:Obstetrics / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D010560:Personnel Selection; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D014481:United States
keywords: multi-center research; pregnancy research; subject recruitment; subject retention