JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Traditional methods for recruiting and maintaining contact with participants in cohort studies include print-based correspondence, which can be unidirectional, labor-intensive, and slow. Leveraging technology can substantially enhance communication, maintain engagements of study participants in cohort studies, and facilitate data collection on a range of outcomes.

Objective:

This report provides an overview of the development process and design of a cohort management platform (CMP) used in the Newborn Epigenetic STudy (NEST), a large longitudinal birth cohort study.

Methods:

The platform uses short messaging service (SMS) text messaging to facilitate interactive communication with participants and semi-automatically performs many recruitment and retention procedures typically completed by research assistants over the course of multiple study follow-up visits.

Results:

Since February 2016, 305 participants have consented for enrolment in the platform, and 162 have enrolled with active engagement in the system. Daily reminders appear to improve adherence to the study’s accelerometer wear protocol. Preliminary data shows that compared to non-texters (N=75), texters (N=138) have significantly longer average accelerometer wearing hours (165.6 hours vs. 145.3 hours, N=213, P=0.01), though there is no significant difference between the groups regarding wearing days (8.1 days vs. 8.7 days, P=0.08).

Conclusions:

This platform can serve as a model for enhancing communication and engagement with longitudinal study cohorts, especially those assessing environmental exposures.