New Insights into Maternal and Paternal Recruitment and Retention in MCH Research: Findings from the Child Community Health Network Study of Preconception Heath

Abstract Limited data exists on factors that predict maternal and paternal recruitment and retention in studies of maternal-child health (MCH). This paper presents data from the Community Child Health Network 9-year, 5-site national study of preconception health of parents and fetal programming Methods: Data will be provided from 2 sources. The first will be quantitative data on 2448 African American, Latino, and non-Hispanic White mothers and 1349 fathers participating in the study, nationally. The second will be mixed methods data from a fatherhood sub-study (n=51) in Los Angeles. Results: Several findings will be presented. First, we will describe the number of mothers and fathers approached, the number enrolled, and the number who completed data collection at all study time points. Second, we will describe the baseline socio-demographics (SES) relationship status, number of live births for mothers where a father enrolled in the study vs. for mothers where a father did not enroll in the study. Third, we will describe SES for fathers who enrolled in the study. Fourth, we will present qualitative data on perceived barriers and incentives to participating in MCH research. And last, we will describe the characteristics of fathers and mothers who completed all aspects of the study vs. fathers and mothers who completed at least one study activity vs. mothers where no father enrolled. Discussion: Findings will be discussed in terms of how we can improve upon and build recruitment and retention efforts in longitudinal MCH research.