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Family Practice Advance Access originally published online on March 18, 2005
Family Practice 2005 22(3):341-346; doi:10.1093/fampra/cmi008
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© The Author (2005). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org

The challenges of cross-national research in primary health care across Europe

Sally C Deana,{dagger}, Clare E Harpera,{dagger}, Francesco P Cappuccioa, Elizabeth Rinka, Carla Dirckxb, Jozef Arnoutb, Francesco Zitoc, Licia Iacovielloc on behalf of the European Collaborative Group of the IMMIDIET Project*

a Department of Community Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK, b Centre for Molecular & Vascular Biology, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium and c Centro di Ricerca e Formazione ad Alta Tecnologia nelle Scienze Biomediche, Università Cattolica, Campobasso, Italy

Correspondence to FP Cappuccio, Department of Community Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK; Email: f.cappuccio@sghms.ac.uk

Received 21 July 2004; Accepted 16 September 2004.

Dean SC, Harper CE, Cappuccio FP, Rink E, Dirckx C, Arnout J, Zito F and Iacoviello L on behalf of the European Collaborative Group of the IMMIDIET Project. The challenges of cross-national research in primary health care across Europe. Family Practice 2005; 22: 341–346.

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.


   Introduction
 
Cross-national studies in Europe are becoming increasingly common and have an important role in epidemiological research.1 Kearney et al. working on an European Community funded project highlight the benefits of international collaborative research, which include larger sample sizes and generalizability, sharing of expertise and resources, thereby minimising duplication of studies.2 However, the authors acknowledge that it is also fraught with difficulties. It is complex and involves challenges of management,3 funding,3,4 language2,4 and communication,2–4 culturally sensitive data collection instruments,2–4 availability of resources and access to subjects.4

Access to and recruitment of participants is a common difficulty in research and within the primary care setting it can be problematic when multiple general practices are involved.5 The recruitment of participants from multiple general practices within a cross-national European study poses additional challenges.

Reflecting on our experience of a cross-national study, this paper will consider some of the challenges of access to subjects . . . [Full Text of this Article]


   The Immidiet study
 
Recruitment of GPs
Response rates of GPs
Conditions to improve GP participation
Recruitment of participant couples
Factors influencing patient participation
Recruitment delays

   Conclusion
 

   Declaration
 

   Appendix 1
 
European Collaborative Group of the Immidiet Project
Participating GPs

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European primary care research
Rupert Jones
Family Practice, 4 Jul 2005 [Full text]