Are web-based questionnaires accepted in patients attending rehabilitation?

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the present paper was to study preferences for web based self-administered questionnaires (web SAQs) vs. paper-based self-administered questionnaires (paper SAQs) and to evaluate the feasibility of using web SAQs in patients referred to cardiac, lung, occupational and cancer rehabilitation programs.

Methods: The patients were approached by mail and given the choice to answer the compulsory SAQs either on paper or on a web-based platform.

Results: Hundred and twenty seven out of 183 eligible patients (69.3%) were willing to participate and 126 completed the study. Web SAQs were preferred by 77.7%, and these patients were significantly younger, more often cohabiting and tended to have higher level of education than paper SAQ users. Mean number of data missing per patient was less among the web SAQ users than the paper SAQ users (0.55 vs. 2.15, p < 0.001). Costs related to human resources were estimated to be 60% lower with web SAQs compared to paper SAQs.

Conclusions: Web SAQs were well accepted among the patients scheduled for rehabilitation, led to less missing data and considerable cost savings related to human resources. Patients referred to rehabilitation should be offered the choice to complete self-administered questionnaires on internet platforms when internet access is common and available.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• The high acceptability of web-based self-administered questionnaires among rehabilitation patients suggests that internet platforms are suitable tools to collect patient information for rehabilitation units.

• Web-based modes of patient data collection demonstrate low number of missing data and can therefore improve the quality of data collection from rehabilitation patients.

• Use of web-based questionnaires considerably reduces administrative costs of data collection in rehabilitation settings compared to traditional pen and paper methods.

Keywords:

• Costs
• e-health
• health logistics
• internet

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the patients who agreed to participate in the study, the staff at LHL-Klinikkene Røros for practical help during the study and Professor Erika Schagatay for valuable advice during manuscript preparation.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.