ArticleBMC medical research methodology2022
Health and study dropout: health aspects differentially predict attrition.
Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers.
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Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Association between childhood family structure and health-related quality of life at middle age: A longitudinal study of Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2025Article
- Allostatic Load, Social Participation, and Healthy Ageing: Longitudinal Evidence on the Impact of Chronic Stress.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Health trends among workers in Germany and the role of changing job activities and working conditions.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A cross-sectional study of demographic variation in health problem-related limitations in life across 22 countries: a cross-national analysis.BMC global and public health · 2025Article
- Childhood predictors of health limitations in life across 22 countries: a cross-national and cross-sectional analysis.BMC global and public health · 2025Article
- Online Survey Retention and Re-engagement: Learning from the COVID-19 Social Study.Field methods · 2025Article
- Development and validation of a Japanese version of the multimorbidity treatment burden questionnaire.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Longitudinal patterns of mental well-being over four years in a german general population sample: a growth mixture modeling approach.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Assessing Social Interaction and Loneliness and Their Association With Frailty Among Older Adults With Subjective Cognitive Decline or Mild Cognitive Impairment: Ecological Momentary Assessment Approach.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Article
- Community perceptions and mental burden among (former) residents at Europe's largest lignite mine in Western Germany: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Health risky behaviors among rural-to-urban migrant workers in China: prevalence, patterns, and association with distal and proximal factors.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Socioeconomic differences in limited lung function: a cross-sectional study of middle-aged and older adults in Germany.International journal for equity in health · 2024Article
- Association between childhood family structure and longitudinal health behaviour changes in adulthood -Northern Finland birth cohort 1966 study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Healthy enough to work up to age 67 and beyond? A longitudinal population-based study on time trends in working life expectancy free of cardiovascular diseases based on German health insurance data.BMJ public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundParticipant dropout poses significant problems in longitudinal survey studies. Although it is often assumed that a participant's health predicts future study dropout, only a few studies have examined this topic, with conflicting findings. This study aims to contribute to the literature by clarifying the relationship between different aspects of health and study dropout.
methodsThe 2008 baseline sample of the German Aging Survey was used to predict study dropout (N = 4442). Indicators of health included physical health using the number of chronic conditions, physical functioning using the SF-36 Physical Functioning subscale, cognitive functioning using the digit symbol substitution test, and depression using the CESD-15.
resultsIt was found that different aspects of health had differential associations with survey dropout: Worse physical functioning and in part worse cognitive functioning predicted increased dropout rates; contrarily, worse physical health predicted decreased dropout when controlling for other health aspects and covariates. Depression was not significantly related to study dropout.
conclusionsTherefore, participants with chronic conditions, but minimal physical and cognitive disability were most likely to participate in the future. These findings suggest that health has a complex relationship with survey dropout and must be accounted for in longitudinal studies. Neglecting this systematic attrition due to health problems bears the risk of severely under- or overestimating health-related effects and trends.
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