Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology
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Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol · Jul 2006
Challenges to re-enrolling perinatally HIV-infected and HIV-exposed but uninfected children into a prospective cohort study: strategies for locating and recruiting hard-to-reach families.
Children infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are living longer. Studies aimed at understanding the health and well-being of these children as they age into adolescence are enhanced by research designs that include appropriate comparison groups. HIV-exposed but uninfected children are one such comparison group; however, recruitment of this comparison group is challenging because uninfected children may no longer be followed at tertiary care centres, and some may be in foster care or no longer living with their biological parents. ⋯ There was a trend for infected and uninfected children of mothers with a history of injection drug use to enrol at lower rates. Although recruitment of the uninfected comparison group was challenging, it was nevertheless facilitated by hierarchical recruitment techniques, involvement of family networks, and continuity of study staff. The PACTS-HOPE cohort will provide opportunities for future research aimed at understanding the unique effects of HIV on the well-being of HIV-infected children.