Predictors of locating women six to eight years after contact: internet resources at recruitment may help to improve response rates in longitudinal research

Abstract

Background: The ability to locate those sampled has important implications for response rates and thus the success of survey research. The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of locating women requiring tracing using publicly available methods (primarily Internet searches), and to determine the additional benefit of vital statistics linkages.

Can we predict retention in longitudinal studies of substance use? Findings from the Australian Treatment Outcome Study

“…Unsurprisingly, the strongest predictor of completing a given follow-up interview was having completed the previous one, consistent with other studies that have emphasized the importance of maintaining participant contact (Cadarette et al, 2007;Gilmore & Kuperminc, 2014;Hobden et al, 2011;Scott, 2004;Scott et al, 2006). Notably, with the exception of other opiate use and treatment status, all other time-varying participant characteristics were nonsignificant, but the fixed covariates of incarceration and years of schooling remained.…”

Predictors of locating children participants in epidemiological studies 20 years after last contact: internet resources and longitudinal research

“…Overall, 29% of the sample was located using this strategy. In comparison, an earlier study documents locating 50% of women sampled after six to 8 years without contact using web-searches [5]. The study suggested that researchers interested in longitudinal designs include the listed name for telephone numbers of participants identified through web-resources as part of their study design.…”

“…In the absence of updated information, the feasibility of tracing participants for longitudinal research is questionable. This may be particularly true when tracing female participants [4,5] and when tracing participants that reside in areas that exhibit high residential mobility. For instance, earlier research traced fewer than one-third of women to their known addresses by solely relying on name searches on the Internet [4].…”

“…82% were identified using previous telephone numbers or addresses; 41% were listed under a male's name. Another study was able to locate 49% of a sample of women after 6-8 years without contact using web-based resources [5]. A New York study used a combination of free telephone directories and fee-based Internet services to trace 39% of mother and daughter pairs following a 30 year no-contact period [6].…”

Challenges in Outcome Measurement: Clinical Research Perspective

“…These reports also provide recommendations for appropriate statistical strategies and techniques for analyses in the presence of missing data. Some strategies for locating patients who fail to return for followup include using the Internet and other public data sources such as motor vehicle registration records and credit bureau databases [5,14,18,29]. These methods have varying success and often require crossreferencing multiple such resources.…”