PATH Study Advance_Ltr-Household_revised 11-21-12

{DATE}
Dear Resident,
I am writing to ask your household to be part of an important national health study called the Population Assessment
of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study. This study will look at tobacco use and how it affects the health of
people in the United States, but you do not have to be a tobacco user to take part in the study. What we learn
will help to improve the health of millions of Americans. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), in partnership with
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is sponsoring the study.
We’ve hired Westat, an independent research firm, to conduct the
PATH study. Within a few days, a Westat interviewer will come to your
home to tell you more about the study and how you can help. The
interviewer will wear an ID badge. It should look like the one shown
on the right.
Please answer the interviewer’s questions about the people in your
household. It will take 15 to 20 minutes. We’ll use your answers to
decide who, if anyone, in your household may be selected for the study.
We will offer you $10 as a thank you for answering these questions.
If we select someone from your household for the study, we’ll give that person more information about it. That
person will be offered $70 as a thank you for fully participating in two home visits. For more information on
the PATH study, please see the enclosed brochure and the study website at www.pathstudyinfo.nih.gov (if you have a
smartphone, you can scan the QR code below to visit the website). Also, the interviewer can answer any questions you
have. Or you can call us toll-free at 1-888-311-1819 (between 9:00 am and 5:30 pm Eastern Time), if you have any
questions or would like to schedule an appointment.
You don’t have to answer our questions. But we hope that you will. Your answers are very important to the
success of the PATH study. Your household was selected by chance from a list of addresses. Including your
household and many others in the study will make the results much more complete and useful.
All of the information you provide for the PATH study will be kept private from persons not connected with
the research, in keeping with the study's Certificate of Confidentiality. It will be protected under current laws
and regulations, including the Privacy Act of 1974. We’ll combine your answers with those given by other people.
Your information will not be used in any way that could identify you, except as permitted by law.
This important study can only succeed with the help of households like yours. I hope you’ll agree to be part of it.
Sincerely,
Kevin P. Conway, Ph.D.
PATH Study, NIH Project Officer
DCN

[PATH QR Code]