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Differences between participants and non-participants in an RCT on physical activity and psychological interventions for older persons

  • Section On Longitudinal Studies
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Abstract

Background and aims: Volunteer bias in intervention studies on successful aging has been poorly explored. This paper investigated differences between participants and non-participants of the Groningen Intervention Study on Successful Aging (GISSA) over a wide range of demographic, physical, psychological and social subject characteristics. Methods: Subjects were recruited among a longitudinal cohort study (Groningen Longitudinal Aging Study) and included 558 men and 711 women, aged 65–96 years, who were invited to participate in the GISSA. Measures were obtained by questionnaires at the moment of invitation and eight years before invitation. Participants were compared with three groups of non-participants: persons who refused to participate, those who did not respond after a reminder, and those who intended to participate but withdrew before pre-test. Results: At the moment of invitation, participants were younger, better educated, and functionally and physically more active than the three groups of non-participants. They also had better scores on the physical functioning subscale of the medical outcome scale, better ADL, iADL and vigorous ADL functions and fewer depressive symptoms, and perceived less social support in everyday and problem situations. Participants reported a less strong rate of decline in physical and psychological functioning in the eight years prior to the invitation than did the other groups. Conclusion: Due to volunteer bias, results of intervention studies on successful aging may have limited generalizability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 196, 9700 AD, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Marieke J. G. van Heuvelen, Mathieu H. G. de Greef & Theo Mulder

  2. Center for Brain Damage Aftercare, Academic Hospital and University of Groningen, The Netherlands

    Jacqueline B. M. Hochstenbach

  3. Mesdag Clinic for Forensic Psychiatry, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Jacqueline B. M. Hochstenbach

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

    Wiebo H. Brouwer

  5. Department of Health Care Studies, Medical Sociology section, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Gertud A. R. Zijlstra & Gertrudis I. J. M. Kempen

  6. Northern Centre for Health Care Research, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

    Ellen van Jaarsveld & Eric van Sonderen

  7. Department of Psychiatry, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

    Johan Ormel

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  1. Marieke J. G. van Heuvelen
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  2. Jacqueline B. M. Hochstenbach
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Correspondence to Marieke J. G. van Heuvelen.

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van Heuvelen, M.J.G., Hochstenbach, J.B.M., Brouwer, W.H. et al. Differences between participants and non-participants in an RCT on physical activity and psychological interventions for older persons. Aging Clin Exp Res 17, 236–245 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03324603

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03324603

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