Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #115768

Deanna M. Hoelscher, PhD, RD, LD, CNS¹, Steven H. Kelder, PhD, MPH², Ralph F. Frankowski, PhD³, Eun Sul Lee, PhD⁴, R. Sue Day, PhD¹, Jerri Ward, MA, RD, LD⁵, and Julia Sanders¹. (1) Human Nutrition Center, University of Texas School of Public Health, 1200 Herman Pressler, RAS W942, Houston, TX 77030, 713.500.9335, Deanna.M.Hoelscher@uth.tmc.edu, (2) School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, 7000 Fannin, Suite 2658, Houston, TX 77030, (3) Division of Biostatistics, University of Texas School of Public Health, 1200 Herman Pressler, Houston, TX 77030, (4) School of Public Health, University of Texas, 1200 Herman Pressler, Suite 234, Houston, TX 77030, (5) Human Nutrition Center, Univ. of Texas-Houston School of Public Health, 7320 North Mopac, Suite 204, Austin, TX 78731

Recent policy statements on child obesity have recommended obtaining BMI measurements from children in schools. Participation in these measurements relies on obtaining parental consent for the individual students; thus, consent procedures can potentially affect participation rates and generalizability of the data. This presentation describes differences in participation rate between active (parent must return consent for participation) and passive (parent must return consent to refuse participation) consent protocols. The School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of child overweight in Texas. A validated questionnaire assessing nutrition and physical-activity related behaviors was administered to students in schools; measured heights and weights were used to calculate BMI. A total of 15,307 students were surveyed from 331 schools (elementary, middle and high schools). The decision to use passive or active consent was determined at the district level for most of the schools (98%). Of the 82 school districts surveyed, 67 (82%) required passive consent. Large urban school districts were more likely to require active consent (49%) compared to suburban/other urban (13%) and rural schools (13%). Participation rates were higher in the schools with passive consent compared to the schools with active consent. The use of an active informed consent process can significantly affect participation rates in a school-based survey of BMI. Researchers need to work with school districts and Institutional Review Boards to determine the best ways of collecting non-invasive health data in schools to provide acceptable participation rates while fully informing the subjects of their rights.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to

• Define the active and passive consent processes in school-based survey research.
• Describe the differences in participation rate between the two consent processes.
• Discuss the impact of the type of consent process on school-based surveys of nutrition, physical activity, and body size.

Keywords: Survey, Occupational Health Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.