Advanced search
Publication Cover
European Journal of General Practice Volume 7, 2001 - Issue 3
Submit an article Journal homepage
60
Views
2
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Article

Should postal epidemiological studies stop doing third mailings?: Examination of response bias in a health survey of women in the UK

Alison M Elliott Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UKCorrespondence[email protected]
,
Philip C Hannaford Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
,
Julie A Simpson Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
,
Maria Warskyj RCGP Centre for Primary Care and Epidemiology (formerly the RCGP Manchester Research Unit), Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
,
Susan Ferry RCGP Centre for Primary Care and Epidemiology (formerly the RCGP Manchester Research Unit), Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
&
Vicci Owen-Smith RCGP Centre for Primary Care and Epidemiology (formerly the RCGP Manchester Research Unit), Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
Pages 104-110 | Received 20 Dec 2000, Accepted 16 Aug 2001, Published online: 11 Jul 2009

References

  • Sheikh K, Mattingly S. Investigating non-response bias in mail surveys. J Epidemiol Community Health 1981; 35: 293–6
  • Cottier L B, Zipp J F, Robins L E, et al. Difficult-to-recruit respondents and their effect on prevalence estimates in an epidemiologic survey. Am J Epidemiol 1987; 125: 329–39
  • Walker M, Shaper A G, Cook DG. Non-participation and mortality in a prospective study of cardiovascular disease. J Epidemiol Community Health 1987; 41: 295–9
  • Jay G M, Liang J, Liu X, et al. Patterns of non-response in a national survey of elderly Japanese. J Gerontol 1993; 48: S143–52
  • Benfante R, Reed D, MacLean C, et al. Response bias in the Honolulu Heart Program. Am J Epidemiol 1989; 130: 1088–100
  • Sheikh K. Predicting risk among non-respondents in prospective studies. Eur J Epidemiol 1986; 2: 39–43
  • Sonne-Holm S, Sorenson T I, Jensen G, et al. Influence of fatness intelligence, education and sociodemographic factors on response rate in a health survey. J Epidemiol Community Health 1989; 43: 369–74
  • Emberton M, Black N. Impact of non-response and of late response by patients in a multi-centre surgical outcome audit. Int J Quality Health Care 1995; 7: 47–55
  • Forthofer RN. Investigation of non-response bias in NHANESII. Am J Epidemiol 1983; 117: 507–15
  • Macera C A, Jackson K L, Davis D R, et al. Patterns of non-response to a mail survey. J Clin Epidemiol 1990; 43: 1427–30
  • Seltzer C C, Bosse R, Garvey AJ. Mail survey response by smoking status. Am J Epidemiol 1974; 100: 453–7
  • Bergstrand R, Vedin A, Wilhelmsson C, et al. Bias due to non-participation and heterogenous sub-groups in population surveys. J Chronic Dis 1983; 36: 725–8
  • Barton J, Bain C, Hennekens C H, et al. Characteristics of respondents and non-respondents to a mailed questionnaire. Am J Public Health 1980; 70: 823–5
  • Vestbo J, Rasmussen FV. Baseline characteristics are not sufficient indicators of non-response bias in follow up studies. J Epidemiol Community Health 1992; 46: 617–9
  • Bisgard K M, Folsom A R, Hong C P, et al. Mortality and cancer rates in non-respondents to a prospective study of older women: 5-year follow-up. Am J Epidemiol 1994; 139: 990–9
  • Criqui M H, Barrett-Connor E, Austin M. Differences between respondents and non-respondents in a population-based cardiovascular disease study. Am J Epidemiol 1978; 108: 367–72
  • Hoeymans N, Feskens E J, van den Bos G A, et al. Non-response bias in a study of cardiovascular diseases, functional status and self-rated health among elderly men. Age Ageing 1998; 27: 35–40
  • Etter J F, Perneger TV. Analysis of non-response bias in a mailed health survey. J Clin Epidemiol 1997; 50: 1123–8
  • Dillman DA. Mail and telephone surveys: the total design method. John Wiley and Sons, New York 1978
  • Fiset L, Milgrom P, Tarnai J. Dentists' response to financial incentives in a mail survey of malpractice liability experience. J Public Health Dent 1994; 54: 68–72
  • Paganini-Hill A, Hsu G, Chao A, et al. Comparison of early and late respondents to a postal health survey questionnaire. Epidemiology 1993; 4: 375–9
  • Hebert R, Bravo G, Korner-Bitensky N, et al. Refusal and Information Bias Associated with postal questionnaires and face to face interviews in very elderly subjects. J Clin Epidemiol 1996; 49: 373–81
  • Siemiatycki J, Campbell S. Non-response bias and early versus all responders in mail and telephone surveys. Am J Epidemiol 1984; 120: 291–301
  • Owen-Smith V, Hannaford P C, Warskyj M, et al. Effects of changes in smoking status on risk estimates for myocardial infarction among women recruited for the Royal College of General Practitioners' Oral Contraception Study in the UK. J Epidemiol Community Health 1998; 52: 420–4
  • Royal College of General Practitioners. Oral Contraceptives and Health. Pitman Medical, London 1974
  • Jacoby A. Possible factors affecting response to postal questionnaires: findings from a study of general practitioner services. J Public Health Med 1990; 12: 131–5
  • Beral V, Hermon C, Kay C, . Mortality in relation to method of follow-up in the Royal College of General Practitioners' Oral Contraception Study. Evidence-Guided Prescribing of the Pill, P C Hannaford, A MC Webb, et al. Parthenon Publishing Group, Lancashire 1996

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Order Reprints Request Corporate Permissions

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

Request Academic Permissions

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.

Related research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.