title: The National Children's Study: Recruitment Outcomes Using the Provider-Based Recruitment Approach.
abstract: In 2009, the National Children's Study (NCS) Vanguard Study tested the feasibility of household-based recruitment and participant enrollment using a birth-rate probability sample. In 2010, the NCS Program Office launched 3 additional recruitment approaches. We tested whether provider-based recruitment could improve recruitment outcomes compared with household-based recruitment.
  
  
  
  The NCS aimed to recruit 18- to 49-year-old women who were pregnant or at risk for becoming pregnant who lived in designated geographic segments within primary sampling units, generally counties. Using provider-based recruitment, 10 study centers engaged providers to enroll eligible participants at their practice. Recruitment models used different levels of provider engagement (full, intermediate, information-only).
  
  
  
  The percentage of eligible women per county ranged from 1.5% to 57.3%. Across the centers, 3371 potential participants were approached for screening, 3459 (92%) were screened and 1479 were eligible (43%). Of those 1181 (80.0%) gave consent and 1008 (94%) were retained until delivery. Recruited participants were generally representative of the county population.
  
  
  
  Provider-based recruitment was successful in recruiting NCS participants. Challenges included time-intensity of engaging the clinical practices, differential willingness of providers to participate, and necessary reliance on providers for participant identification. The vast majority of practices cooperated to some degree. Recruitment from obstetric practices is an effective means of obtaining a representative sample.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas; hale@uthscsa.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Hale
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Mississippi Medical Center, University of Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi;
authors.forename: Sharon B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Wyatt
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island;
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buka
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington;
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cherry
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; and.
authors.forename: Kendall K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Cislo
authors.affiliation: Division of Maternal and Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia;
authors.forename: Donald J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Dudley
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Univesity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest, Fayetteville, Arkansas;
authors.forename: Pearl Anna
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: McElfish
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan;
authors.forename: Gwendolyn S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Norman
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York;
authors.forename: Simone A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Siega-Riz
authors.affiliation: Raymond G. Perelman Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wadlinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, California; and.
authors.forename: Cheryl K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas.
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Robbins
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D020408:Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000639:trends; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic / Q000379:methods; D054582:National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U.S.) / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000639:trends; D018579:Patient Selection; D011247:Pregnancy; D012494:Sampling Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult