Recruitment of mothers with infants in an intervention trial – initial findings from the PINGU-study1

Peer-reviewed | Manuscript received: December 11, 2012 | Revision accepted: March 26, 2013

PINGU – Multimodal optimisation of the dietary supply of infants with polyunsaturated fatty acids in complementary food: background and project structure

Introduction

Successful recruitment of study subjects needs a comprehensive recruitment plan which is specifically adapted to the study population. For the nutrition intervention trial PINGU on the optimisation of omega-3 fatty acid supply in complementary food, mothers with young infants were recruited through both direct and indirect pathways. The present article describes the challenges of the recruitment period and presents the apparent influence factors.

Background

There has been increasing scientific interest in recent years in long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA). Apart from preventive effects in adulthood, e.g. the reduction of coronary heart disease mortality [1], there is also evidence for beneficial impacts of LC-PUFA supply – primarily docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) – in the prenatal and postnatal period on infant’s cognitive and visual development [2–4]. As infants grow rapidly – particularly the brain –, the DHA requirement is specifically high.

Summary

The (partially) double-blinded, randomised, controlled intervention trial PINGU investigates for the first time the effects of an optimised omega-3 fatty acid complementary food on fatty acid status, as well as on the cognitive and visual development of infants in the second half of the first year of life.
Subject recruitment took place both directly and indirectly and lasted one and a half years. Only German speaking adult mothers were recruited who lived in the area of Dortmund and who had a healthy term new born infant.
Recruitment was more time consuming than in the preceding DINO study, as only 1 in 14 of the mothers asked was willing to participate in the PINGU-study. Apparently the most effective recruitment method is directly to address women in childbed at maternity clinics, followed by a phone call follow-up.

Keywords: recruitment, intervention studies, infants, mothers, complementary food, infant nutrition

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