Subject recruitment, retention and protocol feasibility in a prospective study of nutritional risk among urban, frail homebound elders.

摘要

The feasibility of performing comprehensive in-home nutritional risk assessments in a prospective research study of urban, frail homebound elderly patients aged 65-105 years is important, given prior reports of difficulties conducting research witholder adults. In May 1998, trained field teams conducted nutritional and health status assessments on 239 patients of the Boston University Geriatric Services clinical home care programme in Massachusetts, USA. Baseline data were obtained on 153 of the 159 interview items from 91% of respondents; three 24-h dietary recalls from 73%; anthropometry from 60-93%; and other physical assessments from 63-94%. Attrition was 21%, and mortality was 9% over 12 months. Well-designed, flexibly administered study protocols, modest financial incentives and careful follow-up contributed to follow-up interview response rates of 81-89% among enrolees over the study's duration. Clearly, it is feasible to recruit frail, older subjects, and for well-trained, two-person field teams to conduct comprehensive in-home assessments of nutritional risk in under 2 h with good retention over 12 months of follow-up.