National Children's Study E-Update, July 2004

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Dear Friends of the National Children’s Study,

As we have reported in previous E-Updates, the National Children’s Study has been engaged in an in-depth discussion about the sampling process to be used to recruit participants into the Study. We would like to thank many of you for the time and thought you have put into considering the critically important yet difficult question of what is the optimal sampling design for the Study. We greatly value your contributions on this matter.

The sampling strategy to be used is selected based on consideration of a wide range of options and viewpoints including a series of commissioned technical papers prepared by Westat and the Battelle Memorial Institute; findings of a Workshop panel of national experts in sampling, study design, and epidemiology; comments provided by several National Children’s Study Working Groups; and recommendations from the National Children’s Study Advisory Committee (NCSAC), various partner agencies, members of the Study Assembly, and the public. The multidisciplinary nature of the Study necessitates that our approach not come from one single tradition or discipline. This is a bold study that requires a bold study design.

We, members of the Interagency Coordinating Committee and Dr. Duane Alexander, director, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health (NIH), met last week after the most recent NCSAC meeting and discussed all of the seriously considered options. We believe the decision we have made relies on the best of the range of options and takes the National Children’s Study in the best direction to meet its goals.

The approach to select locations and participants for the National Children's Study will employ a national probability sample. The sample will be a multistage design with clusters designed to enhance both efficiency and the ability to measure chemical, physical, and social characteristics of communities as well as of Study participants. The collection of measurements from Study participants (children and their families) will require participation of regional centers.

Producing the sample, recruiting the participants, and following the cohort will require extensive interface between a central coordinating center and the regional centers. We plan to implement the sampling and enrollment incrementally and in a manner designed to evaluate the challenges and potential strengths of integrating these major components and to be able to adjust the ultimate sampling approach to achieve the strongest overall design of the Study. We will attempt to answer as many of the unanswered questions related to the Study design as possible through pilot studies and the initial Study centers.

Again, we greatly appreciate your support of this endeavor.

Duane Alexander, M.D., director
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Interagency Coordinating Committee
National Children’s Study

Members of the Interagency Coordinating Committee, National Children’s Study:

Amy Branum, M.S.P.H.
National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Adolfo Correa, M.D., Ph.D.
National Center for Environmental Health, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, CDC

Sarah Keim, M.A.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH

Woodie Kessel, M.D., M.P.H.
Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Carole A. Kimmel, Ph.D.
National Center for Environmental Assessment, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Mark Klebanoff, M.D., M.P.H.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH

Pauline Mendola, Ph.D.
National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, EPA

Sheila A. Newton, M.S., Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH

James J. Quackenboss, M.S.
National Exposure Research Laboratory, EPA

Peter C. Scheidt, M.D., M.P.H.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH

Kenneth Schoendorf, M.D., M.P.H.
National Center for Health Statistics, CDC

Sherry G. Selevan, Ph.D.
National Center for Environmental Assessment, EPA

Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, M.D.
National Center for Environmental Health, CDC

Comments or questions? Click here.
Visit our Web site at http://nationalchildrensstudy.gov

The National Children's Study is led by a
consortium of federal agency partners:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

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