TY - JOUR
T1 - The Danish Youth Cohort
T2 - Characteristics of participants and non-participants and determinants of attrition
AU - Vinther-Larsen, Mathilde
AU - Riegels, Mette
AU - Rod, Morten Hulvej
AU - Schiøtz, Michaela
AU - Curtis, Tine
AU - Grønbæk, Morten
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Aims: The aim of this paper is to describe the design and methods used in the Danish Youth Cohort and to give a description of the study participants with special attention to a comparison between participants and non-participants regarding sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: A total of 1,945 schools were invited, out of which 506 participated. The participating 7th grades comprised a total of 12,498 responding adolescents. The response rate for the Danish Youth Cohort established in 2005 was 63%. The sample of 12,498 adolescents represents 18.2% of all pupils (n = 68,764) in the 7th grade (mean age: 13.4 years) in Danish schools in 2005. The cohort was followed up in spring 2006 and spring 2007, where the adolescents were in the 8th (mean age: 14.4 years) and 9th (mean age: 15.3 years) grades, respectively. Results: We found that compared with non-participants the participants were significantly more likely to be girls, to be of Danish ethnicity, and to live in one-family houses. Furthermore, participants more often came from families with two or three children, were more likely to have parents with a high occupational status, parents who were married and parents with a higher total income. Loss to follow-up was only associated with adolescents’ higher probability of drinking and use of tobacco, and none of the other factors were associated with attrition. Conclusions: The participants in the Danish Youth Cohort represent a great variety of different groups of socio-demographic factors, although they differ from non-participants as regards a range of socio-demographic factors. This should be taken into account in future analyses.
AB - Aims: The aim of this paper is to describe the design and methods used in the Danish Youth Cohort and to give a description of the study participants with special attention to a comparison between participants and non-participants regarding sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: A total of 1,945 schools were invited, out of which 506 participated. The participating 7th grades comprised a total of 12,498 responding adolescents. The response rate for the Danish Youth Cohort established in 2005 was 63%. The sample of 12,498 adolescents represents 18.2% of all pupils (n = 68,764) in the 7th grade (mean age: 13.4 years) in Danish schools in 2005. The cohort was followed up in spring 2006 and spring 2007, where the adolescents were in the 8th (mean age: 14.4 years) and 9th (mean age: 15.3 years) grades, respectively. Results: We found that compared with non-participants the participants were significantly more likely to be girls, to be of Danish ethnicity, and to live in one-family houses. Furthermore, participants more often came from families with two or three children, were more likely to have parents with a high occupational status, parents who were married and parents with a higher total income. Loss to follow-up was only associated with adolescents’ higher probability of drinking and use of tobacco, and none of the other factors were associated with attrition. Conclusions: The participants in the Danish Youth Cohort represent a great variety of different groups of socio-demographic factors, although they differ from non-participants as regards a range of socio-demographic factors. This should be taken into account in future analyses.
KW - Adolescents
KW - alcohol
KW - participation
KW - representativity
KW - study design
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955503027&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1403494810374222
DO - 10.1177/1403494810374222
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 20529967
AN - SCOPUS:77955503027
SN - 1403-4948
VL - 38
SP - 648
EP - 656
JO - Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
JF - Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
IS - 6
ER -