TY - JOUR
T1 - Recruitment of lactating women into a randomized dietary intervention
T2 - Successful strategies and factors promoting enrollment and retention
AU - Stendell-Hollis, Nicole R.
AU - Laudermilk, Monica J.
AU - West, Julie L.
AU - Thompson, Patricia A.
AU - Thomson, Cynthia A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the California Walnut Commission for their financial support and for providing the walnuts for the intervention group, Bayer HealthCare for donating One-A-Day Women's Prenatal vitamins, and Medela for donating the manual breast pumps. The authors would also like to acknowledge Jennifer Ravia and Amy Butalla for assistance with the recruitment process.
PY - 2011/7
Y1 - 2011/7
N2 - Introduction: Recruitment and retention of lactating women require unique strategies to prevent high attrition. The purpose of this report is to identify successful recruitment strategies and evaluate demographic and lifestyle characteristics associated with study completion. Methods: A randomized, controlled trial was initiated to test the hypothesis that lactating women adhering to a Mediterranean diet will show a significant reduction in anthropometric measurements as compared to lactating women randomized to the USDA's MyPyramid diet for Pregnancy and Breastfeeding (control diet). Measurements were collected at baseline, 2. months, and 4. months. Recruitment methods and baseline characteristics of completers and non-completers are described. Results: The largest percentage of women, 24.8%, were recruited from a local parenting magazine, 20.9% from Craig's List, 20.2% from local hospitals, and 34.1% from various other sources. At baseline, women (n=129) were mostly Non-Hispanic (75.2%), average age 29.7years, BMI averaged 27.2kg/m2, waist:hip ratio 0.84cm (SD: 0.07), and body fat averaged 30.8%. Approximately 72% were exclusively breastfeeding, a mean 17.5weeks postpartum, and 69.0% had a college degree. Non-completers were more likely to have supplemented with formula at baseline as compared to completers (P<0.001). No other characteristics were significantly associated with attrition. Conclusion: Researchers conducting studies with lactating women may consider "exclusive breastfeeding" as a study inclusion criterion to prevent high attrition rates or include additional breastfeeding support to study participants.
AB - Introduction: Recruitment and retention of lactating women require unique strategies to prevent high attrition. The purpose of this report is to identify successful recruitment strategies and evaluate demographic and lifestyle characteristics associated with study completion. Methods: A randomized, controlled trial was initiated to test the hypothesis that lactating women adhering to a Mediterranean diet will show a significant reduction in anthropometric measurements as compared to lactating women randomized to the USDA's MyPyramid diet for Pregnancy and Breastfeeding (control diet). Measurements were collected at baseline, 2. months, and 4. months. Recruitment methods and baseline characteristics of completers and non-completers are described. Results: The largest percentage of women, 24.8%, were recruited from a local parenting magazine, 20.9% from Craig's List, 20.2% from local hospitals, and 34.1% from various other sources. At baseline, women (n=129) were mostly Non-Hispanic (75.2%), average age 29.7years, BMI averaged 27.2kg/m2, waist:hip ratio 0.84cm (SD: 0.07), and body fat averaged 30.8%. Approximately 72% were exclusively breastfeeding, a mean 17.5weeks postpartum, and 69.0% had a college degree. Non-completers were more likely to have supplemented with formula at baseline as compared to completers (P<0.001). No other characteristics were significantly associated with attrition. Conclusion: Researchers conducting studies with lactating women may consider "exclusive breastfeeding" as a study inclusion criterion to prevent high attrition rates or include additional breastfeeding support to study participants.
KW - Attrition
KW - Lactation
KW - Recruitment
KW - Retention
KW - Weight loss
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cct.2011.03.007
DO - 10.1016/j.cct.2011.03.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 21382511
AN - SCOPUS:79957513542
SN - 1551-7144
VL - 32
SP - 505
EP - 511
JO - Contemporary Clinical Trials
JF - Contemporary Clinical Trials
IS - 4
ER -