Use of a commercial consumer panel to recruit a comparator cohort for a pharmacoepidemiologic study

✍ Scribed by Jacqueline S. Gardner; Cheryl A. Szpunar; Martin J. O'Connell; David P. Facklam; Joseph P. Mariano; E. Keith Borden; Frank B. Leinweber

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 652 KB
• Volume: 5
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1053-8569
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1557(199605)5:3<165::aid-pds197>3.0.co;2-9

✦ Synopsis

The Upjohn Consumer Health Survey (UCHS) was a prospective, observational study designed to comply with the US FDA's request that 10,000 users of ROGAINEn (REGAINETM in international markets) Topical Solution 2% (2% minoxidil solution) be systematically studied in the first year following the product's approval. Members of the Drug cohort were recruited at the time they filled prescriptions for 2% minoxidil solution at cooperating retail pharmacies in the United States. To meet the need for rapid identification of a cooperative comparison group, the Comparator cohort was selected by stratified random sampling from members of a commercial consumer panel. Group matching of Comparators to the Drug cohort on four variables-age, sex, race, and geography of residence-was accomplished prior to recruitment on the basis of information available from the consumer panel records; education was obtained via consent procedures and was also used as a group matching variable. Data collection was accomplished by participant interviews and confirmation of participant-reported medical events. Interviewing costs averaged $18.88/completed interview. A commercial consumer panel offers a pool of rapidly identifiable subjects with known demographic characteristics and established willingness to participate in research for efficient cohort recruitment.