Approach to prevent attrition in a cohort study through liaison activities between psychiatry and somatic medicine

Abstract

A cohort study is an observational study used to investigate risk factors for disease, and a prospective cohort study is a longitudinal follow-up survey where participants are recruited at the start of the study. A high-quality study requires the preparation of several resources to prevent attrition. Currently, we are conducting the “Prospective Cohort Study on Nutritional Risk Factors for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder after Acute Coronary Syndrome” in cooperation with various psychiatry and cardiology departments. In this paper, we describe some liaison activities between psychiatry and somatic medicine for preventing attrition in our cohort study. We found that preventing attrition requires focusing on older participants, who comprise the majority, by acting quickly according to length of hospital stay and maintaining regular contact. Strategies for reducing participants’ burden included taking research-related blood samples and conducting interviews during cardiology examinations in their regular treatment course.