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DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.author | Mein, G | - |
dc.contributor.author | Johal, S | - |
dc.contributor.author | Grant, RL | - |
dc.contributor.author | Seale, C | - |
dc.contributor.author | Ashcroft, R | - |
dc.contributor.author | Tinker, A | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2013-12-09T16:33:18Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2013-12-09T16:33:18Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2012 | - |
dc.identifier.citation | BMC Medical Research Methodology, 12(1), 164, 2012 | en_US |
dc.identifier.issn | 1471-2288 | - |
dc.identifier.uri | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/12/164 | en |
dc.identifier.uri | http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/7779 | - |
dc.description | © 2012 Mein et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0),which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | Background: Longitudinal studies are crucial providers of information about the needs of an ageing population, but their external validity is affected if partipants drop out. Previous research has identified older age, impaired cognitive function, lower educational level, living alone, fewer social activities, and lower socio-economic status as predictors of attrition. Methods: This project examined attrition in participants of the Whitehall II study aged between 51–71 years, using data from questionnaires participants have completed biennially since 1985 when the study began. We examine the possibility of two distinct forms of attrition – non-response and formally requesting to withdraw – and whether they have different predictors. Potential predictors were age, gender, marital status, occupational grade, retirement, home ownership, presence of longstanding illness, SF-36 quality of life scores, social participation and educational level comparing participants and those who had withdrawn from the study. Results: The two forms of attrition share many predictors and are associated but remain distinct. Being older, male, having a lower job grade, not being a home owner, not having a long standing illness, having higher levels of education, and not having retired, were all associated with a greater probability of non-response; being married was associated with higher probability in women and lower in men. Being older, male, having a lower job grade, not being a home owner, having lower SF-36 scores, taking part in fewer social activities, and not having a long standing illness, were all associated with greater probability of withdrawal. Conclusions: The results suggest a strong gender effect on both routes not previously considered in analyses of attrition. Investigators of longitudinal studies should take measures to retain older participants and lower level socio-economic participants, who are more likely to cease participating. Recognition should be given to the tendency for people with health problems to be more diligent participants in studies with a medical screening aspect, and for those with lower socio-economic status (including home ownership), quality of life and social participation, to be more likely to request withdrawal. Without taking these features into account, bias and loss of power could affect statistical analyses. | en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship | The Atlantic Philanthropies, [grant number 15867],the Medical Research Council; British Heart Foundation; Health and Safety Executive; Department of Health; National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (HL36310), U.S. National Institutes of Health: National Institute on Aging [AG13196], U.S. National Institutes of Health; Agency for Health Care Policy Research [HS06516]; and the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation Research Networks on Successful Midlife Development and Socio-economic Status and Health. | en_US |
dc.language | English | - |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.publisher | BioMed Central | en_US |
dc.subject | Older people | en_US |
dc.subject | Attrition | en_US |
dc.subject | Longitudinal studies | en_US |
dc.subject | Retention | en_US |
dc.subject | Whitehall II study | en_US |
dc.title | Predictors of two forms of attrition in a longitudinal health study involving ageing participants: An analysis based on the Whitehall II study | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |
dc.identifier.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-164 | - |
pubs.organisational-data | /Brunel | - |
pubs.organisational-data | /Brunel/Brunel Active Staff | - |
pubs.organisational-data | /Brunel/Brunel Active Staff/School of Social Sciences | - |
pubs.organisational-data | /Brunel/Brunel Active Staff/School of Social Sciences/Sociology and Communications | - |
Appears in Collections: | Sociology Dept of Social and Political Sciences Research Papers |
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