Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025237 (Poster 136) | Published: 06 Aug 2025
Cosmas Kenan Onah1,2,&, Onyinyechukwu Uzoamaka Oka1,2, Chijioke Vitalus Iloke1,2, Christian Obasi Akpa1,2, Robinson Chukwudi Onoh1,3, Benedict Ndubueze Azuogu1,2
1Department of Community Medicine, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, Ebonyi State Nigeria,2Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo Ebonyi State, Nigeria, 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State, Nigeria
&Corresponding author: Cosmas Kenan Onah, Department of Community Medicine, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Email: onahcosyo@gmail.com
Received: 02 May 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 06 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Lassa fever, participant retention, epidemiological study, community engagement and sensitization, blood draw, Nigeria
©Cosmas Kenan Onah et al Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Cosmas Kenan Onah et al., Retaining participants in a prospective epidemiological study involving blood draws through sustained engagement: Lessons from ENABLE 1.0 incidence study on Lassa fever infection in Abakaliki, South-East Nigeria. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00280. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00280
Participant retention is crucial in longitudinal epidemiological studies involving repeated blood draws. The Enable 1.0 Incidence Study on Lassa Fever at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki explored community engagement strategies to sustain retention in a high-risk, Lassa-endemic region of Nigeria. Despite initial misconceptions surrounding blood use, the study achieved 90.5% retention rate over 24 months. This study evaluated the effectiveness of community engagement strategies in retaining participants in a prospective study involving repeated blood draws.
Enable 1.0 was a multisite, prospective cohort study (2020-2023) that tracked Lassa virus seroconversion among 1,000 healthy participants from 10 communities in three Local Government Areas of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Community Liaison Officers, village guides, and study teams sustained participants engagement through biweekly home visits and sensitization meetings. Data on participant reception, retention threats, and engagement strategies were collected from 713 participants using a semi-structured questionnaire via Google Forms and analyzed with IBM-SPSS Statistics Version-25.
91.4% of participants reported on were retained while 8.6% did not complete the study. Reported retention threats (14.3%) included inadequate compensation (7.3%), family pressure (6.7%), and fear of blood rituals (5.2%). Non-completion reasons included relocation (3.2%), refusal (2.1%), family opposition (0.8%), and death (0.8%). Effective retention strategies included engaging village guides (61.6%), financial support (41.1%), family members’ encouragement (21.3%), and engaging traditional leaders (21.2%). Despite rumours of blood rituals, sustained community engagement, education, sensitization on the study’s objectives, along with consistent reassurance from study team, helped dispel misinformation. As a result, 86.7% of participants remained warmly receptive and cooperative throughout the study.
Enable 1.0 demonstrated that culturally sensitive community engagement and proactive rumour management are effective for maintaining high retention in longitudinal studies. These findings provide valuable guidance for future studies aiming to mitigate sociocultural barriers and sustain community and participant.
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