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What determines drop out in prospective studies of coronary heart disease risk factors between youth and young adulthood: the Young Hearts Study
  1. F J van Lenthea,
  2. C A Borehamb,
  3. J W R Twiskc,
  4. M J Savaged,
  5. L Murraye,
  6. G Davey Smithf
  1. aDepartment of Public Health, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, the Netherlands, bApplied Medical Sciences and Sports Studies, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, cInstitute for Research in Extramural Medicine, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands, dDepartment of Child Health, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland, eDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, fDepartment of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
  1. Dr van Lenthe (vanlenthe{at}mgz.fgg.eur.nl)

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The growing recognition of the importance of early life factors in the development of coronary heart disease (CHD) may increase prospective research in this period of life. From a methodological point of view, drop out of subjects, particularly when this is selective, is a major threat to the validity of the results. Specific information about determinants of drop out in current studies may therefore yield important information for future studies. We have analysed risk of drop out in the Young Hearts Project, a prospective study in Northern Ireland.1

Methods and Results

The Young Hearts Project is a prospective cohort study, which started in two cohorts of 12 year old boys (n=251) and girls (n=258) and 15 year old boys (n=252) and girls (n=254) in Northern Ireland (overall response rate 78%) in 1988. Its aim and design have been described elsewhere in detail.1 In 1992/93 these children were re-examined …

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Footnotes

  • Funding: this study is financially supported by the Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke Association, the British Heart Foundation and Wellcome Trust.

  • Conflicts of interest: none.