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Participation and drop-out by nurses in longitudinal research: lessons learned from the EvaSIS-study
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Veröffentlicht: | 30. April 2018 |
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Background: Low response rates have been reported in several studies concerning nurses participating in cross-sectional and longitudinal research. Various strategies exist to improve response rates, incorporating incentive and design-based approaches. The EvaSIS-Study aimed to evaluate nurses’ experiences with a newly established nursing documentation system (structural model) in out- and inpatient long-term care facilities throughout Germany using a design-based recruitment approach.
Methods: In a formative process evaluation, directors of nursing (DoN) in 8,957 facilities and 10,274 nurses in 453 facilities were invited to participate in paper-based and online surveys at two points in time. By using an individually generated code, participants’ answers were matched to identify changes over time. In addition, nurses were given the choice to participate in in-depth focus groups.
Results: The design-based recruitment approach yielded in a proportionally low response rate in regard to the initially invited sample: 1,218 (13.6 %) DoN and 1,759 (17.1 %) nurses from 324 facilities responded at baseline (minimum response rate). 1,136 (12.7 %) DoN and 1,485 nurses (14.5 %) were eligible for participation in the follow-up survey three months after baseline which was completed by 534 DoN (47 %) and 618 nurses (41.6 %). Answers of 267 nurses (2.6 %) could be matched and compared over time. 54 participants took part in the focus groups.
Conclusions: The chosen approach did not contribute to a higher proportional participation of nurses in the EvaSIS-Study. Reasons for drop-out and meager participation remain mostly unknown. Next to design-based approaches, incentive-based methodologies should be considered to raise nurses’ participation rates in future research.
Funding: The study was funded by the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV-SV).