University Hospitals Ohio National Guard Study Univeristy of Toledo
 

Frequently Asked Questions

 
What is the purpose of this study?
 
There are two purposes to this study, first is to learn about the experiences of Guard Members and how these experiences may impact their lives over time. This will include looking at factors associated with risk and protection from combat-related mental trauma and similar adjustment problems, such as returning to a civilian lifestyle and dealing with conflict in everyday situations. This will be done, in part, by collecting information about "risk and resilience" factors including family history, medical history, quality of life, productivity, and use of healthcare services that have the potential of affecting your response to deployment. The second purpose of this study is that it may help improve the treatment available to National Guard members who may have stressful experiences while serving.
 
How are individuals chosen to participate in the study?
 
Individuals were selected at random from all members of the Ohio National Guard.
 
Will I be paid for participating in the study?
 
Individuals will receive $35 for completing each annual telephone survey interview, and $25 for completing the Genetics Study.  After participating a check will be sent in the mail.  If you have any questions, please contact the study team at ONGstudy@SRBI.com. 

 

If you are in the In-Person Survey and have a question about your stipend, please contact the Coordinating Center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center toll free at 1-866-602-7584. 
 
What do Guard members need to do to participate?
 
We will be contacting Guard members by telephone to arrange a convenient time to do the survey. We will ask them to complete a telephone survey once a year over the next ten years. Having Guard members take the survey each year will help us see if their experiences and health conditions change over time.
 
How long will it take?
 
The survey usually takes about 60 minutes. It may be longer or shorter depending on the length of answers to the questions.
 
Will anyone find out about the answers people give?
 
Everything you say will be held completely confidential. No one within the Ohio National Guard, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, University of Toledo, or the Columbia University research team or our research partners at Abt SRBI, Inc, will have the information except on an absolute need-to-know basis. Answers will be kept separate from contact information in a password protected, encrypted database. When the results are made public, answers to surveys will be grouped together anonymously and names and address will never be in any study reports. In addition, we will do everything we can to keep others from learning about your participation in the research. To help us protect the research participants' privacy, the investigators have obtained a Certificate of Confidentiality from the National Institutes of Health.
 
How do I know that this is a true survey?
 
We assure you this is a legitimate survey being conducted for the University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland and the University of Toledo. The Columbia University and the Ohio National Guard are partners in this study. If you would like to speak with a supervisor at Abt SRBI to verify this study you can call 888-590-6064 and ask for the supervisor of the Ohio National Guard Study.
 
Do I have to participate? What if I don't want to answer something?
 
No one has to be in this study if they don't want to. Anyone who starts the study can decide to stop at any time or they can choose not to answer individual questions if they would prefer not to. This study is about how certain experiences may impact a person over time. Having participants take a survey each year will help us see if their experiences and health conditions change over the course of the study.
 
Abt SRBI, Inc.