ArticlePloS one2014
Association between recruitment methods and attrition in Internet-based studies.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Recruiting Asian Americans for Online Studies: Methodological Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Exploring the causal paths and longitudinal impact of telework on health: the TeleHealth survey-data linkage study protocol.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Participant engagement and involvement in longitudinal cohort studies: qualitative insights from a selection of pregnancy and birth, twin, and family-based population cohort studies.BMC medical research methodology · 2024Article
- Screening and Retaining Adolescents Recruited Through Social Media: Secondary Analysis from a Longitudinal Clinical Trial.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2024Article
- Participants' Engagement With and Results From a Web-Based Integrative Population Mental Wellness Program (CHAMindWell) During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Program Evaluation Study.JMIR mental health · 2023Article
- Promoting the Participation of "Hard-to-Reach" Migrant Populations in Qualitative Public Health Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chile.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- The PTSD Family Coach App in Veteran Family Members: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Article
- Using Social Media to Facilitate Communication About Women's Testing: Tool Validation Study.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
- Recruiting Participants for Population Health Intervention Research: Effectiveness and Costs of Recruitment Methods for a Cohort Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Article
- The PRIDE Study: Evaluation of online methods of data collection.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2020Article
- Determinants and risk factors of gastroenteritis in the general population, a web-based cohort between 2014 and 2017 in France.BMC public health · 2020Article
- The Fever Coach Mobile App for Participatory Influenza Surveillance in Children: Usability Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2019Article
- Research Ethics in the European Influenzanet Consortium: Scoping Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2018Article
- Influenzanet: Citizens Among 10 Countries Collaborating to Monitor Influenza in Europe.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2017Article
- A Platform for Crowdsourced Foodborne Illness Surveillance: Description of Users and Reports.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2017Article
- Determinants of Participants' Follow-Up and Characterization of Representativeness in Flu Near You, A Participatory Disease Surveillance System.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2017Article
- Using Facebook ads with traditional paper mailings to recruit adolescent girls for a clinical trial.Addictive behaviors · 2017Article
- Article
- Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America: Use of Web-Based Methods for Follow-Up and Collection of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures.JMIR research protocols · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
19 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Internet-based systems for epidemiological studies have advantages over traditional approaches as they can potentially recruit and monitor a wider range of individuals in a relatively inexpensive fashion. We studied the association between communication strategies used for recruitment (offline, online, face-to-face) and follow-up participation in nine Internet-based cohorts: the Influenzanet network of platforms for influenza surveillance which includes seven cohorts in seven different European countries, the Italian birth cohort Ninfea and the New Zealand birth cohort ELF. Follow-up participation varied from 43% to 89% depending on the cohort. Although there were heterogeneities among studies, participants who became aware of the study through an online communication campaign compared with those through traditional offline media seemed to have a lower follow-up participation in 8 out of 9 cohorts. There were no clear differences in participation between participants enrolled face-to-face and those enrolled through other offline strategies. An Internet-based campaign for Internet-based epidemiological studies seems to be less effective than an offline one in enrolling volunteers who keep participating in follow-up questionnaires. This suggests that even for Internet-based epidemiological studies an offline enrollment campaign would be helpful in order to achieve a higher participation proportion and limit the cohort attrition.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.