The recruitment rate for the PCPPP study indicated that about 78% of all women who met the study's eligibility criteria consented to participate and were successfully randomized into an intervention or usual care group. A very high percentage of minority women agreed to participate (85%) and, contrary to findings published in other reports [29, 30], at considerably higher rates when compared to non-minority women (58%). In addition, independent of race/ethnicity, women residing in relatively low income households, women who reported having ever been homeless, and unmarried as opposed to married women were more likely to consent to participate.
These women fit the classic profile of those typically assumed to be less willing, or likely to volunteer for, or enroll in clinical trials. Thus, the results may be regarded as 'unexpected'. Our success is likely to be related to our recruitment protocols which were carefully designed to ameliorate and compensate for factors which might have otherwise led to disproportionate under-recruitment of minority, low SES, or other women facing especially difficult or challenging life circumstances.
Yet, it is important to note that our findings are not without precedent. For a randomized control trial designed to reduce behavioral risk factors associated with poor pregnancy outcomes conducted in Washington, D.C., El-Khorazaty et al. reported that 90% of all minority women asked to participate agreed to do so [6]. The study was limited to minority women, and so recruitment and retention rates for minority women could not be compared to those of non-minority women. However, in a systematic review of over 70 studies reporting recruitment data by race/ethnicity, Wendler et al. reported no consistent pattern of lower enrollment rates by minority status [7]. Moreover, for a subset of the 28 studies reviewed by Wendler and colleagues, involving seven surgical trials, recruitment rates were actually significantly higher for minority (African American and Hispanic) than for non minority (non-Hispanic White) women. Taken together with the findings presented here, this evidence suggests that minorities are at least as willing, and in some cases may even be more willing, to participate in health research.
Assumptions about the willingness of minority, as well as low income and other vulnerable populations, to participate in health studies are important to verify empirically [31–33]. Evidence of elevated risks pertaining to a wide range of chronic and acute illnesses in such populations is overwhelming and the need to reduce racial/ethnic and SES health disparities is widely recognized as a major public health priority [33–36]. Unwarranted or avoidable exclusion from randomized control trials and other legitimate health related research, of race/ethnic minorities or low income individuals, may inhibit discovery and thus the availability of effective treatments for chronic and other illnesses underpinning the persistent and pervasive SES and racial health disparities [32, 33].
We found no differences in follow-up rates according to race/ethnicity, SES or other factors which might reasonably be used to define 'hard-to-reach' or 'difficult to find' populations -- again in contrast to the findings of several prior studies reporting difficulties retaining minority, low income, residentially unstable, or otherwise distressed individuals. As was the case with recruitment, every reasonable effort was made in this study to maintain the cohort, so as to overcome distrust, inconvenience, lack of resources or the presence of other factors which otherwise might have led to relatively poor follow up rates for women facing numerous barriers to participation.
It may be that, when such factors are adequately addressed, neither recruitment rates nor retention rates will necessarily be biased -- that is, compromised by under-representation of minority, low income, and other vulnerable populations. As other observers have suggested [7, 8, 37], it may be that the prospects for successful, reasonably proportionate recruitment and retention of 'hard to reach' or 'difficult to find' groups depends on both appropriately addressing the potential barriers and the nature of the study itself. Specifically, it may be that the perceived 'costs' in the form of inconvenience and/or reluctance in the form of suspicion of motives, are often weighed against the perceived possible 'benefits' of participation. In that light it is important to note that the PCPPP study offered a fairly broad array of what were arguably familiar and highly valued services and medical treatments, over as many as two years. The overall purpose of the intervention itself may also have been perceived to be of extremely high value by the women eligible for enrollment, especially by 'at-risk' women who may have otherwise been reluctant to agree to participate and adhere to the study protocols for ongoing assessments. At stake was the reduction of the risk of another preterm delivery, and all that implies in terms of increasing the general well being and indeed the chances of survival of a subsequent offspring.
As noted earlier, the intervention components of the study described in Table 1 were chosen based on empirical evidence of the relationship between systemic infection and the known risk factors for PTB. The implementation of the interventions were specifically designed to augment existing medical or behavioral services in the city, remove existing barriers to those services, or provide such services when generally unavailable. In all cases, all costs associated with receiving the interventions were paid for from project funds, removing any burden of cost from all study participants. Many of the services that were provided as intervention components were either not available at all in the city or not routinely available, at least at the level or depth that they were offered to the intervention group. For example, screening for BV for postpartum women is not routine practice by providers; the housing services provided - including rental assistance, and tenant/landlord mediation are well known to be difficult to find in the city; and routine screening for depression and careful case-management, counseling and referral services are also well-beyond what is available to most women, whether insured or not. It is also well known that, because the costs are so prohibitive, low income women -- whether Medicaid insured or uninsured -- typically have very limited access to dental services, especially as they pertain to the diagnosis and treatment of periodontal disease. In summary, the services associated with the interventions were clearly distinguishable from what is generally considered to be "usual care", especially where factors related to cost, inconvenience, or lack of access to care is concerned. Given that virtually all cost factors were effectively removed, that physical and other barriers pertaining the accessibility of health care services in poor neighborhoods were addressed, and that the otherwise limited scope of services provided under Medicaid were expanded, it seems plausible to suggest that low income and minority women, in particular, would indeed perceive the interventions as having considerable benefit.
The overall PCPPP follow-up rates for the first (one month) postpartum assessment of 80% are similar to those published for other studies. Retention rates for the Washington D.C. study mentioned above, for example, indicated that 79% of the enrolled women were successfully followed-up using a telephone survey at 8-10 weeks postpartum [6]. Wall et al. reported that 69% of the women randomized into a study designed to reduce postpartum smoking relapse were successfully followed-up by a telephone survey at 12 months postpartum [38]. Katz and colleagues reported a successful postpartum follow-up rate using telephone surveys at 12 months for their study, involving a multi-site parenting intervention, of 59% [5]. Postpartum follow up rates for similar studies conducted in other countries with a universal system of care, however, appear to be somewhat better. In postpartum smoking relapse prevention RCT in Canada, for example, follow-up rates were reported to be 95% at 12 months [39].
In the ongoing, large scale Fragile Families observational study, which recruited subjects from 20 major U.S. cities, and involved a national sample of more than 4,700 index births, 89% and 86% of families were successfully followed-up by telephone survey at one and three year time points, respectfully [40]. However, follow-up rates for the in-home assessment portion of the study were considerably lower. According to the published data, only 54% of the intended in-home assessments at three years (2,581 of the 4,789 baseline sample) were successfully completed. This would appear to be a somewhat higher rate of successful follow-up than reported here (47.3% of the expected final postpartum PCPPP assessments were completed). The lower rate for the PCPPP assessments presented here may be attributable to the assessments for the intervention and usual care group requiring on-site clinical visits, rather than simple follow-up via a telephone survey or home visit.
Although the financial incentives for ongoing participation for both groups was equal, and both groups were afforded the same accommodations and reimbursements associated with all on-site clinic assessments, assessments pertaining to all time periods were completed at higher rates by the intervention compared to the usual care group. Because, by definition, the groups were randomized, these differences are unlikely to be caused by factors other than the nature of the intervention itself. Consequently, the results are consistent with the notion that the extent and nature of the medical and behavior services constituting the PCPPP intervention arm were highly valued and, in and of themselves, served as an incentive for the intervention group to remain in the study.
With regard to the comparison of women who consented vs. those who did not, it is important to note that, of all those who did not consent, only 36% (n = 118) agreed to complete the short form survey. Hence, the 'true' characteristics of all the women who did not consent were estimated based on this subsample. As with any subsample which is not randomly selected it was subject to selection bias. In theory, the bias could have resulted in a disproportionately greater number of higher income, more educated, non-minority women having completed the short-form survey. In that case what appeared to be evidence of greater willingness on the part of minority and low SES women to participate in the larger study could instead be a reflection of selection bias with respect to the characteristics of the subsample of women who agreed to complete the short-form survey. To address this concern we conducted a supplementary analysis of birth certificate data for all women who delivered preterm infants at the hospitals where women were recruited, during the same time period active recruitment occurred. The distributions for age, marital status, education, and race/ethnicity calculated using these data were virtually identical to those we calculated for the combined data gathered from all women approached at delivery - that is, for both those who completed the short-form survey and those who consented to the larger study. If there were any substantial selection bias related to sociodemographic factors we would expect these distributions to be discernibly different, with the data from birth records reflecting the 'unusual' group who declined the short-form survey. Since the distributions were not different, we concluded that the data from the short-form surveys were representative of all non-consenting women, and thus that differences observed between those who consented and those who did not were not the result of any selection bias.