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Table 1 Recruitment and questioning procedure

From: COPD uncovered: an international survey on the impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] on a working age population

Country Recruitment procedure Interview method
Brazil Random selection from a list obtained from Telephone*1 and
  COPD patient associations [telephone face-to-face*2
  interviews], in front of major hospitals, and  
  within a variety of public areas with high  
  footfall rates, including parks and squares  
  [face-to-face approach]. The towns and  
  cities included São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro,  
  Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre,  
  Curitiba, Vitoria, Recife, and represent most  
  regions within the country.  
China Shanghai was selected as a metropolitan Face-to-face*3
  city. It was divided into 300 regions. 40  
  regions were randomly selected [the target  
  sample size for each region was 10  
  participants]. The interviewer selected the  
  starting point using a random method,  
  usually the crossing point of two major  
  roads. The interviewer then selected every  
  fifth property using the right-hand rule  
  [always turn to the right for the next potential  
  respondent]-side of the particular street  
Germany Random selection from a list obtained from Telephone*1
  fieldwork, recruitment agencies and the  
  database at the CRO, self-help groups,  
  COPD patient associations  
  "http://www.lungenemphysem-copd.de, deustsche-  
  empysemgruppe.de] and panelists of online  
  institutes  
Turkey Two representative cities were selected Face-to-face*3
  from each of the six geographical regions:  
  Marmara [Istanbul and Bursa], Aegean  
  [Izmir and Manisa], Central Anatolia [Ankara  
  and Kayseri], Black Sea [Samsun and  
  Trabzon], Mediterranean [Adana and  
  Antalya] and Eastern Turkey [Diyarbakir and  
  Elazig]. The districts and the streets within  
  each city were randomly selected. A  
  stratified random sample of buildings was  
  used. The interviewers adopted a walking  
  rule for each street, approaching the  
  occupant at every fourth property on the  
  right-hand-side. All work places were also  
  contacted within each of these buildings.  
UK 6-8 participants were recruited from 40 Telephone*1
  general practices and 25 pharmacies [at  
  least one per major town/city] and invited to  
  contact the researchers. The British Lung  
  Foundation regional groups and local  
  'Breathe Easy' groups also randomly  
  selected members.  
US Random selection from a known list of Telephone*1
  people diagnosed with: COPD obtained  
  from a market research organization  
  1. *1Interviews were conducted at a variety of times between 09:00 and 21:00, Monday-Sunday.
  2. *2 Interviews were conducted in public places, including parks and outside a hospital.
  3. *3 Door-to-door interviewing employing the stated sampling criteria.
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BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

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