Australian Aboriginal Birth Cohort study: follow-up processes at 20 years

Abstract

BackgroundIn 1987, a prospective study of an Australian Aboriginal Birth Cohort was established focusing on the relationships of fetal and childhood growth with the risk of chronic adult disease. However as the study is being conducted in a highly marginalized population it is also an important resource for cross-sectional descriptive and analytical studies. The aim of this paper is to describe the processes of the third follow up which was conducted 20 years after recruitment at birth.MethodsProgressive steps in a multiphase protocol were used for tracing, with modifications for the expected rural or urban location of the participants.ResultsOf the original 686 cohort participants recruited 68 were untraced and 27 were known to have died. Of the 591 available for examination 122 were not examined; 11 of these were refusals and the remainder were not seen for logistical reasons relating to inclement weather, mobility of participants and single participants living in very remote locations.ConclusionThe high retention rate of this follow-up 20 years after birth recruitment is a testament to the development of successful multiphase protocols aimed at overcoming the challenges of tracing a cohort over a widespread remote area and also to the perseverance of the study personnel. We also interpret the high retention rate as a reflection of the good will of the wider Aboriginal community towards this study and that researchers interactions with the community were positive. The continued follow-up of this life course study now seems feasible and there are plans to trace and reexamine the cohort at age 25 years.

Clinical oral health outcomes in young Australian Aboriginal adults compared with national‐level counterparts

“…Feedback of study progress was given to Aboriginal communities when the research team visited, and was presented on local and national Indigenous radio services and published in the Aboriginal & Islander Health Worker Journal 18 . ‐ 20 A website about the cohort has been developed (http://edison.menzies.edu.au/clancohort), including stories and pictures of communities and consenting participants.…”

Fetal growth restriction and 18‐year growth and nutritional status: Aboriginal birth cohort 1987–2007

“…The participants are in a prospective Aboriginal Birth Cohort study, which has been previously described in detail (Sayers et al, 2003(Sayers et al, , 2009). In brief, 686 Aboriginal babies born at the Royal Darwin Hospital in the Northern Territory of Australia (NT) between January 1987 and March 1990 were recruited into the study.…”

“…Of the 686 participants recruited at birth, 469 participants were re-examined: 27 participants were known to have died, 68 could not be traced, and 121 traced participants could not be examined. Of those 121, 11 were refusals, and the remainders were not seen due to logistic reasons such as aircraft cancellations due to poor weather conditions, local flooding preventing access to remote communities, absence of a participant from a community at the time of the only scheduled research visit or because they were single participants living in very remote localities (Sayers et al, 2009). …”

The overall health and risk factor profile of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants from the 45 and up study

“…The majority of our knowledge comes from cross-sectional surveys [6,7] and to date, the array of sizeable longitudinal studies among Aboriginal people are limited to mostly studies among children and young adults [8,9] or targeted towards specific conditions such as diabetes [10]. Most include only Aboriginal participants, precluding direct comparisons with the general population in a number of areas.…”