Strengthening Recruitment and Retention: Mitigation Strategies in Two Longitudinal Studies of Pregnant Women in Pakistan.
Purpose: Global health researchers have a responsibility to conduct ethical research in a manner that is culturally respectful and safe. The purpose of this work is to describe our experiences with recruitment and retention in Pakistan, a low-middle-income country. Description: We draw on two studie...
| Published in: | Maternal & Child Health Journal Vol. 28; no. 10; pp. 1671 - 1677 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
| Format: | research Journal Article |
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Springer Nature
Oct2024
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=180849905&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 180849905 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 10927875 N9J jtl: Maternal & Child Health Journal issn: 10927875 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Oct2024 vid: 28 iid: 10 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature place: New York, New York artinfo: ui: 180849905 177988501 180849905 180849905 10.1007/s10995-024-03957-9 180849905 ppf: 1671 ppct: 6 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Strengthening Recruitment and Retention: Mitigation Strategies in Two Longitudinal Studies of Pregnant Women in Pakistan. aug: au: Yim, Ilona S. Ali, Naureen Akber Dosani, Aliyah Lalani, Sharifa Babar, Neelofur Nausheen, Sidrah Premji, Shahirose Sadrudin affil: Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, 4201 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, 92697-7085, Irvine, CA, USA sug: subj: Expectant Mothers Pakistan Research Subject Recruitment Research Subject Retention Research, Medical Psychological Distress Childbirth, Premature Human Prospective Studies Pakistan Female Financial Stress Health Services Accessibility Safety Commitment Medical Mistrust Decision Making, Family Culture Collaboration Prenatal Care Pilot Studies Research Subjects Social Factors Blood Specimen Collection Descriptive Statistics Female ab: Purpose: Global health researchers have a responsibility to conduct ethical research in a manner that is culturally respectful and safe. The purpose of this work is to describe our experiences with recruitment and retention in Pakistan, a low-middle-income country. Description: We draw on two studies with a combined sample of 2161 low-risk pregnant women who participated in a pilot (n = 300) and a larger (n = 1861) prospective study of psychological distress and preterm birth at one of four centers (Garden, Hyderabad, Kharadar, Karimabad) of the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Assessment: Challenges we encountered include economic hardship and access to healthcare; women's position in the family; safety concerns and time commitment; misconceptions and mistrust in the research process; and concerns related to blood draws. To mitigate these challenges, we developed culturally acceptable study incentives, involved family members in the decision-making process about study participation, partnered with participants' obstetrician-gynecologists, accommodated off site study visits, combined research visits with regular prenatal care visits, and modified research participation related to blood draws for some women. Conclusion: Implementation of these mitigation strategies improved recruitment and retention success, and we are confident that the solutions presented will support future scientists in addressing sociocultural challenges while embarking on collaborative research projects in Pakistan and other low-middle-income countries. Significance: What is Already Known on this Subject?: Recruitment and retention of pregnant women is challenging in any research context, for a range of socioecological reasons, including societal, community-level and individual factors. These issues can be more emphasized or play out in unique ways in studies conducted in low-middle-income countries. What this Study Adds?: This study describes recruitment and retention challenges we encountered during our research in Pakistan. For each of these challenges, which may result in non-compliance if not addressed, the development and implementation of culturally safe and successful mitigation strategies is described. The knowledge gleaned may support future global health research teams setting out to conduct research in Pakistan, and perhaps other low-middle-income countries. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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