Responses to inquiries about participation in research studies are answered by a dedicated phone line that is manned during business hours and answered by voicemail at all other times. A research assistant responds to each inquiry immediately, using a screening instrument that inquires about potential respondents' contact information, demographics, smoking history, and medical history. Our database includes 1,600 individuals with physician-diagnosed asthma. An important component of our retention strategy will be the retention of clinic personnel. In addition, patients who move will be strongly encouraged to follow-up at their nearest ACRN clinical center.
Local advertising takes advantage of the printed as well as the audio-visual media.
Printed media include posters placed in public information centers of local colleges and universities as well as brochures sent to selected physicians in the Philadelphia area. Printed advertising is placed in local neighborhood newspapers and occasionally in the Philadelphia Inquirer . Audio-visual media advertisements are also placed in public service announcements on television and radio. All advertising in the printed and audio-visual media has prior approval of the Institutional Review Board. Personal computers in each outpatient clinic site are linked to a dedicated file server located in the clinical research offices of the Pulmonary Division.