Reasons for non-participation in follow-up research on eating disorders

OBJECTIVE: Lack of participation in follow-ups is thought to be a serious bias in outcome research on eating disorders; however, little systematic knowledge exists about the problem. The present study aimed to delineate non-participation in long-term follow-up research, and explore the reasons for non-participation.METHOD: Eating disorder patients (N=840) entering a naturalistic, longitudinal multi-centre study were divided into participators (N=508) and non-participators (N=332) in 36-month follow-ups. Non-participators were further classified as either active (i.e. refused participation or failed to attend scheduled appointments) or passive non-participators (i.e. could not be traced).RESULTS: Active non-participators exhibited significantly lower levels of general and eating disorder psychopathology at intake compared to participators, while passive non-participators reported higher levels of hostility.DISCUSSION: Systematic exploration of non-participation in longitudinal research can help to mitigate the problem of indistinct results due to missing data. Barriers to successful longitudinal research and how to overcome non-participation at endpoint are discussed.

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