Retention and characteristics associated with remote questionnaire completion in a general population cohort study: the project baseline health study

ObjectiveTo evaluate remote participant engagement in a clinical study over time, based on data from the Project Baseline Health Study (PBHS), a hybrid in-person and virtual study.MethodsThe PBHS enrolled 2,502 adult US residents from March 3, 2017 to April 26, 2019, with a ≤5-year follow-up. We sum...

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Main Authors: Megan K. Carroll, Safa Faheem, Jean Bouteiller, Adrian Hernandez, Kenneth W. Mahaffey, Jessica L. Mega, Neha Pagidipati, Terry Schaack, Svati H. Shah, Sumana Shashidhar, Susan Swope, Donna Williams, R. Scooter Plowman, Edgar P. Simard, Sarah A. Short, Shannon S. Sullivan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-06-01
Series:Frontiers in Digital Health
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fdgth.2025.1520132/full
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Summary:ObjectiveTo evaluate remote participant engagement in a clinical study over time, based on data from the Project Baseline Health Study (PBHS), a hybrid in-person and virtual study.MethodsThe PBHS enrolled 2,502 adult US residents from March 3, 2017 to April 26, 2019, with a ≤5-year follow-up. We summarized 4-year retention and rates of longitudinal patient-reported outcome survey completion. We investigated participant characteristics for their associations with quarterly remote survey completion using regression models.ResultsOf the total participants (N = 2,502), 94% remained enrolled after 4 years and 60% completed all annual visits; 2,490 participants stayed enrolled for at least one quarter. The median (IQR) number of remote electronic survey sets completed was 8 (3–12), of a possible 16. Age [odds ratio (OR), >70 vs. ≤30 years: 2.56; 95% CI: 2.24–2.94] and education (OR, advanced degree vs. ≤high school: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.22–1.52) were positively associated with remote survey completion. Participants with lower odds of completion were Black (OR vs. White: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.67–0.80), Hispanic (OR vs. non-Hispanic: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.77–0.93), or had at least mild symptoms of depression (OR vs. without: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.84–0.96) or anxiety (OR vs. without: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.78–0.90).ConclusionsOverall, 94% of PBHS participants remained enrolled after four years. Age, race, ethnicity, income, education, and symptomatic depression/anxiety were significantly associated with longitudinal remote questionnaire completion. These findings on engagement over time may inform future longitudinal study design.Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov, identifier (NCT03154346).
ISSN:2673-253X