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Strategies to maximise study retention and limit attrition bias in a prospective cohort study of men reporting a history of injecting drug use released from prison: the prison and transition health study.
- Source :
- BMC Medical Research Methodology; 9/12/2021, Vol. 21 Issue 1, p1-8, 8p
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- <bold>Background: </bold>There are significant challenges associated with studies of people released from custodial settings, including loss to follow-up in the community. Interpretation of findings with consideration of differences between those followed up and those not followed up is critical in the development of evidence-informed policies and practices. We describe attrition bias in the Prison and Transition Health (PATH) prospective cohort study, and strategies employed to minimise attrition.<bold>Methods: </bold>PATH involves 400 men with a history of injecting drug use recruited from three prisons in Victoria, Australia. Four interviews were conducted: one pre-release ('baseline') and three interviews at approximately 3, 12, and 24 months post-release ('follow-up'). We assessed differences in baseline characteristics between those retained and not retained in the study, reporting mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).  RESULTS: Most participants (85%) completed at least one follow-up interview and 162 (42%) completed all three follow-up interviews. Retained participants were younger than those lost to follow-up (mean diff - 3.1 years, 95% CI -5.3, - 0.9). There were no other statistically significant differences observed in baseline characteristics.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>The high proportion of participants retained in the PATH cohort study via comprehensive follow-up procedures, coupled with extensive record linkage to a range of administrative datasets, is a considerable strength of the study. Our findings highlight how strategic and comprehensive follow-up procedures, frequent contact with participants and secondary contacts, and established working relationships with the relevant government departments can improve study retention and potentially minimise attrition bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- DRUG utilization
PRISON release
COHORT analysis
LONGITUDINAL method
PRISONS
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14712288
- Volume :
- 21
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- BMC Medical Research Methodology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 152397656
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-021-01380-0