What do families want to know about outcomes after trials of new treatments in pregnancy and the newborn?

Most new treatments of pregnant women and newborn babies are tested in clinical trials, which commonly focus on short term outcomes. However, treatments before and around the time of birth may have important effects on life-long health and development for both mother and baby. Evaluating these requires follow-up years after the initial trial, and is most useful if almost everyone participates.

Although thousands of women and babies may be involved in follow-up studies, there is almost no information about what families consider the most important long-term outcomes that should be evaluated.

Objective:

i) To engage with a range of consumer groups to evaluate what outcomes they consider important and should be assessed at follow-up;

ii) Assess enablers and barriers to participation in follow-up;

iii) Using this information, in collaboration with consumers, promote enablers and address identified barriers to participation, and monitor their effect on participation rates in follow-up studies.


Funding notes:

Scholarships and awards are available to support Honours, Masters and PhD students at the Liggins Institute, including a Liggins Institute ’Start Up’ Doctoral Scholarship for your first year’s fees. Find out more: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/liggins/study-with-us/scholarships-and-awards.html

There are no international fees for PhD students: as long as you live in New Zealand during your period of enrolment, and even if you initially start your PhD from overseas, you will pay the same as New Zealanders.