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THE NORTH CAROLINA HERALD PILOT STUDY
Citation:
MENDOLA, P. THE NORTH CAROLINA HERALD PILOT STUDY. Presented at Teratology Society Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ, June 24 - 29, 2006.
Description:
The sampling design for the National Children's Study (NCS) calls for a population-based, multi-stage, clustered household sampling approach. The full sample is designed to be representative of both urban and rural births in the United States, 2007-2011. While other survey research efforts have used similar designs with success, this would be a novel recruitment strategy for studies of preconception factors and pregnancy outcomes.
A comprehensive pilot study is planned for 2006-2009 in central North Carolina (BEfirstNC, formerly Herald). We will screen approximately 10,000 households total from four defined geographic areas (2 urban and 2 rural). The area segments were chosen to have a broad range of demographic variation with respect to race/ethnicity and income as well as urban/rural housing units. The study will enroll women planning pregnancy and those currently pregnant, with a small number of women enrolled in the hospital after delivery.
Pilot study visits follow the first two years of the NCS Study Plan, with frequent home and clinic visits continuing until the child is 18 months of age. Contacts with participants will focus on topics that are likely to yield meaningful results in a small sample of infants (~400 children). Participant burden associated with study visits, forms and clinical tests will be characterized. Frequent qualitative assessments will evaluate the acceptability of the Study Plan including: what participants like and don¿t like about each study visit, why they decide to join the study, and detailed information on factors related to dropping out of the study.
This pilot study can provide valuable information on the feasibility of using a household-based sampling approach to identify, enroll and retain women and families for a longitudinal study of child health and development. Demographic differences in participant response and retention will be informative for the national study as well as the qualitative assessment of study acceptability.
This is an abstract of a proposed presentation and does not necessarily reflect EPA policy.