Re-recruiting postpartum women living with HIV into a follow-up study in Cape Town, South Africa
Abstract Objective Recruitment and retention present major challenges to longitudinal research in maternal and child health, yet there are few insights into optimal strategies that can be employed in low-resource settings. Following prior participation in a longitudinal study following women living...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
BMC
2019-07-01
|
Series: | BMC Research Notes |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13104-019-4509-4 |
id |
doaj-83e972b0b47d4f9b88aa798a0a353874 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-83e972b0b47d4f9b88aa798a0a3538742020-11-25T02:38:58ZengBMCBMC Research Notes1756-05002019-07-011211610.1186/s13104-019-4509-4Re-recruiting postpartum women living with HIV into a follow-up study in Cape Town, South AfricaPhepo Mogoba0Yolanda Gomba1Kirsty Brittain2Tamsin K. Phillips3Allison Zerbe4Landon Myer5Elaine J. Abrams6Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape TownDivision of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape TownDivision of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape TownDivision of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape TownICAP at Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia UniversityDivision of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape TownICAP at Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia UniversityAbstract Objective Recruitment and retention present major challenges to longitudinal research in maternal and child health, yet there are few insights into optimal strategies that can be employed in low-resource settings. Following prior participation in a longitudinal study following women living with HIV through pregnancy and breastfeeding in Cape Town, women were re-contacted at least 18 months after the last study contact and were invited to attend an additional follow-up visit. We describe lessons learnt and offer recommendations for a multiphase recruitment approach. Results Using telephone calls, home visits, clinic tracing and Facebook/WhatsApp messages, we located 387 of the 463 eligible women and successfully enrolled 353 (91% of those contacted). Phone calls were the most successful strategy, yielding 67% of enrolments. Over half of the women had changed their contact information since participation in the previous study. We recommend that researchers collect multiple contact details and use several recruitment strategies in parallel from the start of a study. Participants in longitudinal studies may require frequent contact to update contact information, particularly in settings where mobility is common.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13104-019-4509-4RecruitmentRetentionPostpartumHIVSouth Africa |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Phepo Mogoba Yolanda Gomba Kirsty Brittain Tamsin K. Phillips Allison Zerbe Landon Myer Elaine J. Abrams |
spellingShingle |
Phepo Mogoba Yolanda Gomba Kirsty Brittain Tamsin K. Phillips Allison Zerbe Landon Myer Elaine J. Abrams Re-recruiting postpartum women living with HIV into a follow-up study in Cape Town, South Africa BMC Research Notes Recruitment Retention Postpartum HIV South Africa |
author_facet |
Phepo Mogoba Yolanda Gomba Kirsty Brittain Tamsin K. Phillips Allison Zerbe Landon Myer Elaine J. Abrams |
author_sort |
Phepo Mogoba |
title |
Re-recruiting postpartum women living with HIV into a follow-up study in Cape Town, South Africa |
title_short |
Re-recruiting postpartum women living with HIV into a follow-up study in Cape Town, South Africa |
title_full |
Re-recruiting postpartum women living with HIV into a follow-up study in Cape Town, South Africa |
title_fullStr |
Re-recruiting postpartum women living with HIV into a follow-up study in Cape Town, South Africa |
title_full_unstemmed |
Re-recruiting postpartum women living with HIV into a follow-up study in Cape Town, South Africa |
title_sort |
re-recruiting postpartum women living with hiv into a follow-up study in cape town, south africa |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
BMC Research Notes |
issn |
1756-0500 |
publishDate |
2019-07-01 |
description |
Abstract Objective Recruitment and retention present major challenges to longitudinal research in maternal and child health, yet there are few insights into optimal strategies that can be employed in low-resource settings. Following prior participation in a longitudinal study following women living with HIV through pregnancy and breastfeeding in Cape Town, women were re-contacted at least 18 months after the last study contact and were invited to attend an additional follow-up visit. We describe lessons learnt and offer recommendations for a multiphase recruitment approach. Results Using telephone calls, home visits, clinic tracing and Facebook/WhatsApp messages, we located 387 of the 463 eligible women and successfully enrolled 353 (91% of those contacted). Phone calls were the most successful strategy, yielding 67% of enrolments. Over half of the women had changed their contact information since participation in the previous study. We recommend that researchers collect multiple contact details and use several recruitment strategies in parallel from the start of a study. Participants in longitudinal studies may require frequent contact to update contact information, particularly in settings where mobility is common. |
topic |
Recruitment Retention Postpartum HIV South Africa |
url |
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13104-019-4509-4 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT phepomogoba rerecruitingpostpartumwomenlivingwithhivintoafollowupstudyincapetownsouthafrica AT yolandagomba rerecruitingpostpartumwomenlivingwithhivintoafollowupstudyincapetownsouthafrica AT kirstybrittain rerecruitingpostpartumwomenlivingwithhivintoafollowupstudyincapetownsouthafrica AT tamsinkphillips rerecruitingpostpartumwomenlivingwithhivintoafollowupstudyincapetownsouthafrica AT allisonzerbe rerecruitingpostpartumwomenlivingwithhivintoafollowupstudyincapetownsouthafrica AT landonmyer rerecruitingpostpartumwomenlivingwithhivintoafollowupstudyincapetownsouthafrica AT elainejabrams rerecruitingpostpartumwomenlivingwithhivintoafollowupstudyincapetownsouthafrica |
_version_ |
1724788366302511104 |