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Evaluation of parental participation in a case–control study of infant leukaemia
Author(s) -
Mertens Ann C.,
Robison Leslie L.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
paediatric and perinatal epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.667
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3016
pISSN - 0269-5022
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3016.1997.d01-18.x
Subject(s) - medicine , telephone survey , pediatrics , demography , family medicine , disease control , environmental health , marketing , sociology , business
This study was performed to evaluate participation rates and characteristics of participants in a case–control study of infant leukaemia. Eligible cases were identified throughout the United States, and two controls were selected for each case using a structured protocol for telephone random digit dialling. The non‐participation rate, once a household agreed to provide an address to receive a letter explaining the study, was 7.9% for cases and 19.8% for controls. When comparing demographic differences between participants and non‐participants, parents of eligible cases that participated were more likely than non‐participating case parents to be white ( P = 0.01) and to be currently married ( P = 0.03); parents of eligible controls who participated were more likely than non‐participating parents of eligible controls to have a higher education level ( P < 0.01), more children under the age of 10 years ( P = 0.05) and to be white ( P < 0.01). These data have application for future studies involving infants with a serious disease and the use of random digit dialling for the selection of infant controls.