BackgroundUniversal interventions to reduce health risks can widen health inequalities. Targeted approaches, where an intervention is tailored to specific groups, may overcome this limitation. Women aged 16 to 34 years with lower socioeconomic status are hard-to engage in research which limits our ability to understand how to address their health and lifestyle behaviours.According to marketing research on spending, young adults aged 16 to 34 years pass through three main life stages: (1) dependency on older adults and individual interests, (2) leaving home and spending time with peers, (3) setting up home and having a family. The aim of this study was to evaluate how useful these life stage categories are for understanding women’s motivations to participate in health research and for planning recruitment strategies.MethodsNine focus groups with a total of 49 women (aged 16 to 34 years, without university education) were conducted. Women were recruited from different settings to mirror each of the three life stages above. Women in Further Education colleges represented category (1), women at work were for category (2) and mothers were for category (3). The focus groups explored participants’ lifestyles, reasons for participating in the current study and beliefs about how research could be of value to them. Framework analysis was used to integrate theories from existing literature with themes emerging from the focus groups.ResultsAll women sought personal benefits from participation but these varied by life stage. Mothers wanted social opportunities away from caring responsibilities, while women at work and women in education valued monetary incentives more highly. A common theme across the groups was the desire to escape boring activities. Women’s motivations to participate in health research were not purely altruistic but to improve their own social capital. There were differences in how women would choose to spend free time.ConclusionThe life stages were useful for understanding women’s motivations to participate in health research. Advertising strategies to engage women aged 16 to 34 years in health research should be tailored to fit their life stages, their goals for free time and the value they place on participation. These findings suggest that different strategies are required to optimise recruitment across this age range. One recruitment strategy does not fit all.

BackgroundA major aim in public health research is to prevent harm. Accurate data is needed to inform harm reduction policies, practices and research. Therefore samples used in observational studies need to represent the population from which they were drawn but response rates are declining in the UK.Nonresponse has been addressed in various ways, including ‘boost’ samples and statistical adjustment. However, these may introduce bias and have limited applicability to smaller studies not of a national scale.If response rates vary by sociodemographic factors then this could contribute to poor understanding of health-risk behaviours and inequality in health care provision. The aim of this review was to describe patterns of response in UK population surveys and cohort studies across a range of sociodemographic attributes to evaluate the extent to which women respondents were representative of sampled populations. While these concerns relate to both genders, the focus is upon women because they spend more years in ill-health. Their engagement in risk behaviours is also known to affect their children’s health.MethodsSix national UK health surveys (examined between 2009 and 2013) and eight cohort studies (1993 to 2009 and funded by the Medical Research Council) were included. Proportions of women respondents by age, socioeconomic status (as defined by income/occupation), education and ethnicity were recorded. These distributions were compared against population estimates for similar time-periods and geographical areas.ResultsThere was a pattern of underrepresentation of women aged <34 years. In four of nine studies the oldest age band was also underrepresented. Percentage differences ranged from 10% underrepresentation (16–24 year olds) to 9% overrepresentation (55–64 year olds). At the highest deprivation levels there was 4% underrepresentation to 43% overrepresentation while at the lowest levels the range was 6% under- to 21% overrepresentation. The highest underrepresentation in education was 16% for individuals with no qualifications, while the highest overrepresentation was 28% at level 4 (degree equivalent). Only four included studies reported response by ethnicity and only one had any overrepresentation of non-white groups. This same study underrepresented white women by 9%.ConclusionThis review suggests that patterns of response are varied and influenced by topic, sampling frame, recruitment and fieldwork strategies. The work was limited by variability in proxy measures for socioeconomic status and by availability of some data. Future health-risk behaviour research should focus on how to effectively reach and engage women from all social groups.