Logistic regression

Internal medicine

Randomized controlled trial

Medicine

Confidence interval

Odds ratio

Clinical trial

Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery

High loss-to-follow-up rates are a risk in even the most rigorously designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Consequently, predicting and preventing loss to follow-up are important methodological considerations. We hypothesized that certain baseline characteristics are associated with a greater likelihood of patients being lost to follow-up. Our primary objective was to determine which baseline characteristics are associated with loss to follow-up within 12 months after an open fracture in adult patients participating in the Fluid Lavage of Open Wounds (FLOW) trial. We also present strategies to reduce loss to follow-up in trauma trials.Data for this study were derived from the FLOW trial, a funded trial in which payments to clinical sites were tied to participant retention. We conducted a binary logistic regression analysis with loss to follow-up as the dependent variable to determine participant characteristics associated with a higher risk of loss to follow-up.Complete data were available for 2,381 of...

Predicting and Preventing Loss to Follow-up of Adult Trauma Patients in Randomized Controlled Trials