December 2024

 

The main agenda item was a review of the questionnaire going out to our Generation 1 participants (in their early thirties) in March 2025. APPAP were asked to review the questionnaire and comment on the format, explanation of how to complete it, order of questions and content of the questions. There was a lively discussion, with excellent suggestions put forward such as simplifying the instructions at the start to improve the questionnaire. Some suggestions such as breaking up the long annual questionnaire into smaller more regular questionnaires over the year were put forward. It may not be possible to do this, but we will investigate further.  

  

We discussed ongoing improvements to the running of the APPAP group. We are using Teams to coordinate the work of the group and ensure good communication. There is now a webpage describing the work of the group. The group agreed the wording of a form that researchers will be asked to complete before attending APPAP for advice, to ensure that they are answering the concerns relevant to the group.  

  

ALSPAC is organising a one-day training event for APPAP members in summer 2025. At this event APPAP members will meet key members of the study team such as the Principal Investigator and the executive team, staff covering different activities such as new data and sample collection, and researchers undertaking research using ALSPAC data and samples.