Participants

 

Participants for our research are selected from the patient lists of six medical practices:

 

• Craigmillar Medical Group (Edinburgh, Scotland) 

• St. Serf’s Medical Practice (Kinross, Scotland)

• Townhead Medical Practice (Montrose, Scotland)

• Castlegait Medical Surgery (Montrose, Scotland)

• Annat Bank Medical Practice (Montrose, Scotland)

• Distretto Sanitario of Pian di Scó & Castelfranco di Sopra (Arezzo, Italy)

 

 

Recruitment

 

Scottish Participants

 

We first approached the Scottish GP practices involved in the study, and, with the help of SPCRN we asked them to create a list of around 4,000 patients from each practice whom they deemed to be eligible to participate in the study. This included patients over 18 years of age who did not possess any terminal illnesses, or any other conditions that the GPs felt may make the study unsuitable for them (schizophrenia, dementia, learing difficulties, etc.).

 

Next, with the help of SPCRN and HIC, we posted out Participant Information Sheets to each patient on these lists. The Participant Information Sheet explains the aim of the study and what participating in it will involve. Patients interested in participating were asked to complete and return a reply slip in the FREEPOST envelope provided.

 

Patients who returned a reply slip were then posted out a permission form and questionnaire. Signing the permission form shows that the patient gives us their permission to use their questionnaire data and to access their medical records. The questionnaire contained various measures of mental health (please see theMeasures In Our Study page for more information). Patients who wished to participate were asked to sign the permission form and to complete the questionnaire, and to return both in the FREEPOST envelope provided.  

Patients who did not return a reply slip within three weeks of the Participant Information Sheet being posted out were sent a Three Week Reminder Letter. Again, patients interested in participating were encouraged to complete and return a reply slip in the FREEPOST envelope provided. Any who did so were then sent a permission form and questionnaire to complete, and were asked to return them in the FREEPOST envelope provided.

 

Patients who returned a completed permission form and questionnaire were deemed to be participants of the study. Participants' GP medical records were then accessed, and a number of pieces of information were extracted (please see theMeasures In Our Study page for more details).

 

All these data were then entered and analysed using statistical analyses. Since our study is longitudinal, we are currently repeating this data collection process in 2014/2015. This means that we can compare participants' results in 2012/2013 and 2014/2015.   

 

Italian Participants

 

Cultural differences meant that it was more convienient for our Italian research team to recruit participants in the GP surgery, and to encourage them to complete the consent form and questionnaire whilst waiting for their appointment. However, the contents of the Italian questionnaire was exactly the same as the contents of the Scottish questionnaire, and the same medical data were extracted from participants' GP records. Furthermore, as in Scotland, the same data collection process is taking place in 2014/2015.