We signed one of our kids up for a longitudinal study of the same general type mentioned here (ECHO, the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes).
I have no idea how we got sampled -- a staffer visited our hospital room with a clipboard and signed up the kid at birth, but otherwise we would never have known it was an option.
For us they've done occasional detailed phone interviews roughly annually, sent someone to collect biometric data at the kid's regular well child visit, and occasionally requested some poop or blood.
They also enrolled us in a related study during early 2020 -- we were mailing in nasal swabs from the whole family every week or so for a while! (The DIY home blood sample kit they sent was NOT a winner and I promised the kid we wouldn't try it again; they were fine with us opting out of that part of their covid study.)
We get an annual newsletter highlighting recent publications from the study, periodic random $20 checks after phone surveys, and -- oddly -- packages with birthday cards, holiday greetings, and small toys or coloring books every few months. I guess this is how you keep people active in longitudinal studies?
> We get an annual newsletter highlighting recent publications from the study, periodic random $20 checks after phone surveys, and -- oddly -- packages with birthday cards, holiday greetings, and small toys or coloring books every few months. I guess this is how you keep people active in longitudinal studies?
Wild. This makes me want to see a longitudinal study on the difference in outcomes between people who participate in longitudinal studies and those who don't...
An interesting study, but I worry how this might be interpreted by those outside of academia. There are a lot of people who like to make normative health recommendations based on studies like this.
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[ 0.19 ms ] story [ 26.1 ms ] threadI have no idea how we got sampled -- a staffer visited our hospital room with a clipboard and signed up the kid at birth, but otherwise we would never have known it was an option.
For us they've done occasional detailed phone interviews roughly annually, sent someone to collect biometric data at the kid's regular well child visit, and occasionally requested some poop or blood.
They also enrolled us in a related study during early 2020 -- we were mailing in nasal swabs from the whole family every week or so for a while! (The DIY home blood sample kit they sent was NOT a winner and I promised the kid we wouldn't try it again; they were fine with us opting out of that part of their covid study.)
We get an annual newsletter highlighting recent publications from the study, periodic random $20 checks after phone surveys, and -- oddly -- packages with birthday cards, holiday greetings, and small toys or coloring books every few months. I guess this is how you keep people active in longitudinal studies?
Wild. This makes me want to see a longitudinal study on the difference in outcomes between people who participate in longitudinal studies and those who don't...
We need to stop doing them.
What we need to stop is put unreasonable emphasis on association studies (i.e., interpret the results incorrectly).