Association of attrition with mortality: findings from 11 waves over three decades of the Whitehall II study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Attrition, the loss of participants as a study progresses, is a considerable challenge in longitudinal studies. This study examined whether two forms of attrition, 'withdrawal' (formal discontinued participation) and 'non-response' (non-response among participants continuing in the study), have different associations with mortality and whether these associations differed across time in a multi-wave longitudinal study.

Methods

Participants were 10 012 civil servants who participated at the baseline of the Whitehall II cohort study with 11 data waves over an average follow-up of 28 years. We performed competing-risks analyses to estimate sub-distribution HRs and 95% CIs, and likelihood ratio tests to examine whether hazards differed between the two forms of attritio

SUBMITTER: Akasaki M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8071845 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature