Factors Associated with Participation in Providing Buccal Cell DNA for a Genetic Epidemiologic Study

Abstract

Aims: Our aim was to investigate factors associated with participation in buccal cell DNA collection using a large-scale prospective cohort study. Methods: Of the 183,634 Korea Medical Insurance Corporation (KMIC) prospective cohort study enrollees, 44,773 (36,794 men) were randomly selected. Buccal cell collection kits were mailed and collected from March to September 2004. Epidemiologic characteristics measured at baseline (1990 or 1992) and during follow-up (1998) were compared between respondents and nonrespondents. Results: Among the 13,084 (29.2%) respondents, 78.7% submitted usable samples (DNA concentration ≧3 µg). After adjustments for either or both age and family history of chronic disease, participation in men was positively associated with old age, a family history of chronic disease, low subjective health status, and regular exercise, and negatively associated with current smoking status. In women, only old age was associated with participation. Low body mass index (BMI) (<18.5 kg/m²), blood pressure, total cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose level were negatively associated with participation in men after adjustments for age and family history of chronic disease, but not in women, except for low BMI. Conclusions: In this study, collecting buccal cell DNA by mailed survey has a low success rate (29%), and there appear to be a nonresponse bias and gender differences in the collection process.

Factors affecting maternal participation in the genetic component of the National Birth Defects Prevention Study—United States, 1997–2007

“…These findings are consistent with another study which found that subjects with favorable lifestyle factors such as regular exercise, nonsmokers, and nondrinkers were more likely to participate in buccal cell collection. 8 We did find, however, that overall and in Hispanic mothers, those who consumed alcohol were more likely to participate in buccal cell collection. It is hypothesized that consumption of alcohol could be an indicator of higher socioeconomic status.…”

“…Furthermore, the potential biases that arise as a result of low participation rates can also be better evaluated. 4 The few previous studies that have investigated differences between participants who provided biological samples and those who declined to do so 6,8,13,14 demonstrated that race/ethnicity, age, health status, education, and other demographic factors are associated with participation. 8,9,14–17 A previous analysis of buccal cell participation at 1 of 10 study sites of the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) found that non-Hispanic white race, higher maternal education, and the addition of monetary incentives were associated with higher participation in buccal cell collection.…”

New strategies for biosample collection in population-based social research

“…Some of these studies did not assess sociodemographic differences between responders and non-responders (Cozier et al, 2004; Etter and Bullen, 2011; Egan et al, 2003; Feigelson et al, 2001; Freeman et al, 1997; Hansen et al, 2007). Several of the studies that did assess differences found significant response variation by sociodemographic factors such as age (Avendano et al, 2011; Bloomfield et al, 2003; Boyle et al, 2010; Etter and Perneger, 2001; Kang et al, 2011; Kozlowski et al, 2002; Margolis et al 2011; Rylander-Rudqvist et al, 2006) and race (Bloomfield et al, 2003; Boyle et al, 2010; Crider et al, 2006; Kozlowski et al, 2002; Le Marchand et al, 2001). Others, however, found no statistically significant differences in compliance by these factors (Bauer et al, 2004; Etter et al, 2005; Fidler et al 2011; Halpern et al, 2012; Osmond et al, 2000).…”