Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Feb 28, 2019
Date Accepted: Oct 1, 2019
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Qualitative study exploring beliefs related to participation in a large web-based prospective survey on diet and health among individuals with a low socioeconomic status
ABSTRACT
Background:
NutriQuébec is a web-based prospective study which aims to study the relationship between diet and health as well as the impact of food-related health policies in the Quebec adult population. Recruitment and retention of individuals with a low socioeconomic status (SES) in such a study is known to be challenging and yet key to achieve representativeness of the entire population.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to identify the behavioural, normative and control beliefs of individuals with low SES regarding participation in the NutriQuébec project and to identify their preferences regarding recruitment methods.
Methods:
Four focus groups were conducted in community centers located in low-income areas of Quebec City, in Canada. Based on the Theory of planned behaviour, participants' beliefs associated with attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control regarding a hypothetical participation in the NutriQuébec project were identified. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed and coded by two analysts using NVivo.
Results:
Participants (16 men and 12 women) were between 28 and 72 years of age and the majority had an annual household income of $19,999 or less. The main perceived advantages of participating in the NutriQuébec project were to contribute to improved collective health and to support research. The only disadvantage identified by one of the four groups was the risk of having to fill out too many questionnaires. Participants could not in general identify persons from their entourage who would approve or disapprove their participation in the study. The main facilitators identified were obtaining a brief health assessment and the ability to complete questionnaires in a way that is not web-based. The main barrier was the lack of access to the Internet. The preferred means of recruitment were through social media, television and community centres.
Conclusions:
These results provide insightful information regarding the best methods and messages to use to recruit and retain individuals with a low SES in a population-based prospective study on lifestyle and health on the Internet. Clinical Trial: NCT03849846
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