Use of multi-modal community outreach and media to support recruitment in the National Children's Study

Abstract

ObjectiveThe National Children's Study (NCS) is a prospective, national longitudinal study of the effects of environment and genetics on child health, growth, and development. The objective of this study is to describe and evaluate the Maine Study Center's community outreach effort, describing the rationale for its design, evolving implementation, and to evaluate the overall campaigns’ effectiveness on recruitment as reported by potential participants.MethodsWe evaluated the outreach and media campaign using conventional media metrics, demographic characteristics, how women self reported hearing about the study, and response rates between those who refused participation in the study, and those who consented. Data were collected from December 2010 through August 2011.ResultsSeventy-three percent of women who consented reported having heard of the NCS previously, in contrast to just over half of women who refused to participate or were ineligible women. Women who consented reported modalities slightly more frequently than those who refused participation.The findings suggest that outreach and media can be effective in supporting recruitment in population-based studies; however, additional research is needed to evaluate these strategies and standardize metrics.