Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #354347
Title: Web-based recruitment and survey methodology to maximize response rates from followers of popular diets: the Adhering to Dietary Approaches for Personal Taste (ADAPT) feasibility survey

Author
item KARLSEN, MICAELA - Friedman School Of Nutrition
item LICHTENSTEIN, ALICE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item ECONOMOS, CHRISTINA - Friedman School Of Nutrition
item FOLTA, SARA - Friedman School Of Nutrition
item ROGERS, GAIL - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item JACQUES, PAUL - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item LIVINGSTON, KARA - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item RANCANO, KATHERINE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item MCKEOWN, NICOLA - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University

Submitted to: Current Developments in Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/16/2018
Publication Date: 3/13/2018
Citation: Karlsen, M.C., Lichtenstein, A.H., Economos, C., Folta, S., Rogers, G.T., Jacques, P.F., Livingston, K., Rancano, K., McKeown, N.M. 2018. Web-based recruitment and survey methodology to maximize response rates from followers of popular diets: the Adhering to Dietary Approaches for Personal Taste (ADAPT) feasibility survey. Current Developments in Nutrition. 2(5). https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzy012.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzy012

Interpretive Summary: Public interest in nutrition is at the forefront of health, and there appears to be growing interest in popular diets such as vegan/vegetarian, Paleo, and other "whole food" diets. Plant-based, low-carb and Paleo diets, as well as other diets that emphasize unrefined foods, have been associated with weight loss and disease prevention. However, existing cohort studies, which is a type of study that follows people over time to examine changes in factors such as diet, health, and behavior, lack information on people eating these types of popular diets. Studying people adhering to popular diets is important in light of the fact that typical US dietary intake patterns are associated with risk of overweight/obesity. Understanding what helps people adhere to healthier dietary patterns can lead to the development of public health interventions to promote healthier eating. With the internet so widely used in the healthcare context, one method of capturing data on people eating popular diets is through web-based recruitment and online data capture methods. The objectives of this survey were to: 1) show that it is feasible to use web-based recruitment to enroll people who follow popular dietary patterns into a research study; 2) evaluate whether web-based data capture techniques can be used to collect information on demographics, lifestyle, and health history; and 3) assess whether popular diet followers are willing to participate in future research that would involve more extensive online nutrition and health surveys. This short feasibility survey suggests that a diverse group of popular diet followers can be successfully recruited to participate in research using web-based methods. While a larger, more comprehensive study should be pursued to collect information on what helps people adhere to healthier diets, it would be useful to consider marketing techniques to help enroll a more diverse pool of study participants.

Technical Abstract: Background: Although there is interest in popular diets such as vegan/vegetarian, Paleo, and other "whole food" diets, existing cohort studies lack data for these subgroups. Use of electronic data capture and web-based surveys in nutrition research may be valuable for future studies by allowing targeting of specific dietary subgroups. Objective: Perform a Feasibility Survey (FS) to assess practicality of web-based research methods to gather data and maximize response rates among followers of popular diets. Methods: The FS was an open, voluntary, 15-minute survey conducted over 8 weeks in summer 2015. Recruitment targeted self-identified followers of popular diets from a convenience sample offering no incentives via social media and e-newsletters shared by recruitment partners. Feasibility was assessed by number of responses, survey completion rate, distribution of diets, geographic location, and willingness to participate in future research. Results: 14,003 surveys were initiated; 13,787 individuals consented, and 9,726 completed the survey (71% of consented). Number of unique visitors to questionnaire site, view rate, and participation rate were not captured. Among respondents with complete demographic data, 83% were female and 93% were white. Diet designations were collapsed into the following groups: whole food, plant-based (25%); vegan & raw vegan (19%); Paleo (14%); try to eat healthy (11%); vegetarian & pescatarian (9%); whole food (8%); Weston A. Price (5%); and low-carb (4%). Forced response, multiple-choice questions produced the highest response rates (0-2% selected "prefer not to answer"). Willingness to complete future online questionnaires was 86%, diet recall 93%, and food diary 75%; to provide finger stick blood sample 60%, venipuncture blood sample 44%, urine sample 58%, and stool sample 42%. Conclusion: This survey suggests recruiting followers of popular diets is feasible using web-based methods. The unbalanced sample with respect to gender and race/ethnicity could be corrected with specific recruitment strategies using targeted online marketing techniques.