How the Esteban Study Was Conducted
Your participation in the study will last for up to two months, from the time you are invited to participate until you complete your health examination.
In practice
1. Random selection
Potential participants are contacted based on an automatically generated phone number. The study participant is randomly selected from among the people in the household associated with that number and receives a complete information packet about Esteban by mail.
After receiving the mail, a representative from the Ifop Research Institute will contact you to obtain your consent and schedule an initial in-home visit with a researcher.
The Ifop Research Institute is available to participants throughout the study to answer their questions. For medical questions regarding the study, participants can reach a doctor at 0 800 348 360 (toll-free from a landline).
2. The first home visit
During this visit, a researcher will explain the study in detail, conduct a face-to-face questionnaire with you (covering your general health, lifestyle habits, hobbies, etc.), and provide the informational materials, questionnaires, and instructions necessary for the study.
This first visit lasts between 60 and 90 minutes.
3. The food survey and completing the questionnaires
- For adults and adolescents (ages 11 and up)
The food diary is completed either by you online via a dedicated questionnaire, or by a dietitian who collects, during a phone interview, a list of the foods and beverages consumed over the past 24 hours. This data is collected three times over a three-week period.
- For children aged 6 to 10, the dietary survey is conducted using a logbook in which your child, with your help, records their food intake over three 24-hour periods.
Duration: 15 minutes per entry (3 entries in total).
The questionnaires provided by the researcher during the first home visit should be completed during this stage. Duration: 45 minutes.
4. The second home visit
This visit is also conducted by an interviewer from the Ifop Research Institute, who verifies and collects the completed questionnaires and gathers additional information.
If you agree, this visit includes collecting your Social Security number, which will allow Santé publique France to access information about the treatments, hospitalizations, care, and medications you have received over the past three years.
This visit lasts between 15 and 30 minutes.
5. The health examination
The health examination is conducted either at one of the 73 Health Examination Centers (CES) of the Health Insurance system participating in the study, or at your home by a state-licensed nurse.
For children and adolescents (ages 6 to 17), the exam is conducted exclusively at home. The tests differ from those for adults.
6. Results
The results will be sent to you in several parts:
the results of the health examination, on the one hand;
the levels of vitamins and other environmental substances analyzed, on the other hand.
