Department of Pediatric Neurology, Turku University Hospital and the University of Turku, Savitehtaankatu 5, 20521, Turku, Finland.
Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital and the University of Turku, Kunnallissairaalantie 20, 20700, Turku, Finland.
Trials. 2023 Jul 26;24(1):477. doi: 10.1186/s13063-023-07390-1.
Retention is essential in follow-up studies to reduce missing data, which can cause bias and limit the generalizability of the results. We investigated whether pre-notification letters would increase the response rates of approval forms and questionnaires and reduce the need for post-notifications in a prospective follow-up study of 17-year-old adolescents.
and settings This long-term follow-up study included 269 adolescents were randomized (1:1) into a pre-notification group (n = 132) and a no pre-notification group (n = 137). The pre-notification letter was sent prior to the approval form and questionnaires. The outcome measures were the response rates to the approval forms and questionnaires and the rate of post-notifications required.
The adolescents who received the pre-notifications were more likely to return approval forms (n = 88/132, 67%) than the adolescents who did not receive the pre-notifications (n = 79/137, 58%) (OR 1.5, 95% CI 0.9-2.4). The rates of returned questionnaires were higher in the pre-notification group (n = 82/88, 93%) than in the no pre-notification group (n = 68/79, 86%) (OR 2.2, 95% CI 0.8-6.3). The adolescents who did not receive the pre-notifications were more likely to need the post-notifications than the adolescents who received the pre-notifications (OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.4 to 6.5).
Pre-notifications decreased the need for post-notifications and may increase retention in 17-year-old adolescents. Based on our findings, pre-notification letters are recommended in future follow-up studies in adolescents.
The Ethics Review Committee of the Hospital District of South-West Finland approved the 17-year PIPARI Study protocol in January 2018 (23.1.2018; 2/180/2012). The study has been registered to the SWAT repository as SWAT 179. Filetoupload,1457904,en.pdf (qub.ac.uk).
在随访研究中，保留率至关重要，可减少缺失数据，从而避免偏倚并提高研究结果的普遍性。我们研究了在一项对 17 岁青少年的前瞻性随访研究中，预通知信是否会提高批准表和问卷的回复率，并减少后续通知的需要。
本长期随访研究纳入了 269 名随机分配（1:1）到预通知组（n=132）和无预通知组（n=137）的青少年。预通知信在批准表和问卷之前发出。主要结局指标为批准表和问卷的回复率以及所需的后续通知率。
收到预通知的青少年更有可能返回批准表（n=88/132，67%），而未收到预通知的青少年（n=79/137，58%）（OR 1.5，95%CI 0.9-2.4）。预通知组的问卷回收率较高（n=82/88，93%），而无预通知组（n=68/79，86%）（OR 2.2，95%CI 0.8-6.3）。未收到预通知的青少年比收到预通知的青少年更需要后续通知（OR 3.0，95%CI 1.4-6.5）。
预通知减少了后续通知的需要，并可能提高 17 岁青少年的保留率。基于我们的发现，建议在未来的青少年随访研究中使用预通知信。
南西芬兰区医院伦理审查委员会于 2018 年 1 月批准了 17 岁 PIPARI 研究方案（2018 年 1 月 23 日；2/180/2012）。该研究已在 SWAT 存储库中注册，SWAT 编号为 SWAT 179。Filetoupload,1457904,en.pdf（qub.ac.uk）。
