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RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES FOR AN EXPOSURE MEASUREMENT STUDY OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN
Citation:
Lyu, C., J. C. Chuang, N K. Wilson, AND M K. Morgan. RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES FOR AN EXPOSURE MEASUREMENT STUDY OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN. Presented at American Public Health Association, Atlanta, GA, October 21-26, 2001.
Impact/Purpose:
The overall objectives of CTEPP were to measure the aggregate exposures of approximately 260 preschool children and their adult caregivers to low levels of a suite of pesticides and organic pollutants that the children may encounter in their everyday environments, and to apportion the routes of exposure and estimate the relative contributions of each route.
Description:
Recruiting study participants is always a challenge for researchers. It poses an even bigger challenge for researchers to recruit participants for a study involving intrusive, burdensome data collection activities. A study of preschool children's exposure to persistent organic pesticides and other persistent organic pollutants is being conducted in North Carolina and Ohio. Participants are recruited from daycare centers and from the general population using a random digit dialing (RDD) method. Participant data are collected over a 48-hour period. The data include samples of food, beverages, drinking water, urine, indoor and outdoor air, hand wipes, indoor floor dust, play area soil, dislodgeable pesticide residues, smooth floor wipes, and food preparation surface wipes. Personal interviews are conducted with the adult caregiver and the daycare staff to collect additional exposure information. Children's activities during the 48-hour period are recorded by the adult caregiver and daycare staff in activity diaries. Strategies for enhancing the response rates are based on previous pilot studies. These strategies include: a tailored recruitment plan for the target population (i.e., daycare centers, working parents, non-working parents), letters of endorsement from childcare associations and state licensing agencies, a certificate of confidentiality, crafting a persuasive introductory letter and study brochure, using FedEx for delivering introductory letters, multiple follow-ups (telephone and personal visit), participant training, non-monetary incentives, and monetary incentives. The initial recruitment results are 73% daycare center response rate, 80% daycare parents response rate, and 68% RDD response rate.
This work has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. It has been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication.