Screening for Pregnancy Status in a Population-Based Sample: Characteristics Associated with Item Nonresponse

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Suzanne C Hughes, San Diego State University; Carol Hogue, Emory University; Melissa A Clark, Brown University; Jessica E Graber, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Elaine D Eaker, Westat Corp; Amy H Herring, Gillings School of Global Public Health
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-03-01
• Publisher: Springer/Plenum Publishers
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10995-018-2665-0
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Maternal and Child Health Journal
• Volume: 23
• Issue: 3
• Start Page: 316
• End Page: 324
• Grant/Funding Information: NICHD Contract(s) No(s): NICHD HHSN275200503411C/N01-HD-5-3411; NIH-NICHD-HHSN267200700021C; HHSN275201200021C, and HHSN275200800024C; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Keywords: Pregnancy screener; Children; Prenatal; National Children's Study; Recruitment; ENGAGEMENT; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; RECRUITMENT; NATIONAL CHILDRENS; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; WOMEN; Science & Technology
• Research Categories: Biology, Biostatistics; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Objectives: Population-based recruitment of a cohort of women who are currently pregnant or who may become pregnant in a given timeframe presents challenges unique to identifying pregnancy status or the likelihood of future pregnancy. Little is known about the performance of individual eligibility items on pregnancy screeners although they are critical to participant recruitment. This paper examined the patterns and respondent characteristics of key pregnancy screener items used in a large national study. Methods: Cross-sectional analyses were conducted. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine nonresponse patterns to three questions (currently pregnant, trying to get pregnant and able to get pregnant). The questions were asked of 50,529 women in 17 locations across the US, as part of eligibility screening for the National Children’s Study Vanguard Study household-based recruitment. Results: Most respondents were willing to provide information about current pregnancy, trying, and able to get pregnant: 99.3% of respondents answered all three questions and 97.4% provided meaningful answers. Nonresponse ranged from 0.3 to 2.5% for individual items. Multivariable logistic regression results identified small but statistically significant differences in nonresponse by respondent age, marital status, race/ethnicity-language, and household-based recruitment group. Conclusions for Practice: The high levels of response to pregnancy-related items are impressive considering that the eligibility questions were fairly sensitive, were administered at households, and were not part of a respondent-initiated encounter.