Veitch C, Hollins J, Worley P, Mitchell G
School of Medicine, James Cook University, Queensland.
Aust Fam Physician. 2001 Apr;30(4):399-406.
Increasing interest in general practice research, especially postal surveys, has been met with decreasing response rates. Prospective, longitudinal surveys pose additional concerns for general practice researchers, one of the major problems being sample attrition after project commencement.
This article draws on the authors' experiences from seven studies conducted by them to identify useful strategies for researchers who need to recruit general practitioners and/or their patients, with particular reference to retaining participants across time. A list of issues, lessons learned and possible strategies was developed which, although not exhaustive, probably reflects those commonly encountered in many general practice studies.
The issues identified here are not necessarily new, but it is useful to revisit such issues and to review and reiterate methods and processes, as even experienced researchers encounter problems from time to time. Studies involving prolonged participation especially, require diligent consideration of likely recruitment/retention problems.
对全科医学研究，尤其是邮寄调查的兴趣日益浓厚，但回应率却在下降。前瞻性纵向调查给全科医学研究人员带来了更多担忧，其中一个主要问题是项目开始后样本流失。
本文借鉴作者进行的七项研究的经验，为需要招募全科医生和/或其患者的研究人员确定有用的策略，特别关注如何长期留住参与者。制定了一份问题、经验教训和可能策略的清单，虽然并不详尽，但可能反映了许多全科医学研究中常见的问题。
这里确定的问题不一定是新问题，但重新审视这些问题并回顾和重申方法与流程是有用的，因为即使是经验丰富的研究人员也会不时遇到问题。特别是涉及长期参与的研究，需要认真考虑可能出现的招募/留住参与者的问题。
