Longitudinal tracking and retention in a school-based study on adolescent smoking: Costs, variables, and smoking status

Methods used to track a cohort of Grade 6 students through Grades 8 and II, and costs involved for survey completion in school and by mail for ever an d never smokers from the original group are derailed. At baseline, 1,598 st udents in Scarborough, Canada, completed a questionnaire on smoking, drinki ng, and health, and again in Grade 8 (N = 1,543/1,598) and Grade II (N = 1, 454/1,598). In Grades 8 and I I, tracking and administering the questionnai re was more costly per participant when the survey was administered by mail than in school. Average completion costs were highest for Grade II student s who used tobacco at baseline ($52.44). Students categorized as ever smoke rs in Grade 6 were harder to locate at each phase of testing, which suggest s that this group should be identified at baseline so that closer tracking procedures may be employed between data collection points.