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How did regional lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic affect recruitment into a large multinational cohort study of
Tanja Boehnke1, Lisa Eggebrecht1, Mareike Viet1
1Department of Statistics and Methodology, ZEG Berlin - Center for Epidemiology and Health Research, Berlin, Germany.
Objectives:
To investigate the impact of lockdown policies on the recruitment of an ongoing cohort study.
Study Design:
We performed descriptive analyses of recruitment, dropout, and baseline characteristics over time. Oxford Stringency Index was used to assess the impact of regional constraints on recruitment.
Results:
Drop in recruitment clearly reflected the Stringency Index within the first months of the pandemic. Unexpectedly, drop-out rates declined in 2020/2021. Baseline characteristics were comparable, yet younger women were recruited more frequently during the pandemic.
Conclusions:
There was no strong evidence of recruitment bias due to the pandemic.
Implications:
The COVID-19 pandemic is a potential source of bias for ongoing studies and its influence on the study conduct (e.g., recruitment, drop-out) should be thoroughly evaluated to ensure that study results are not biased in this regard. The Oxford's Government Stringency Index can be used to identify pandemic-affected time periods.
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