SynthesisBMC health services research2006
Personally addressed hand-signed letters increase questionnaire response: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
Synthesis in BMC health services research, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Response is increased using postal rather than electronic questionnaires - new results from an updated Cochrane Systematic Review.BMC medical research methodology · 2024Pooled it
- Methods to increase response to postal and electronic questionnaires.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Methods to increase response to postal and electronic questionnaires.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2009Pooled it
- A photograph of the researcher on the invitation letter did not affect the participation rate of a postal survey: a randomized study within a trial (SWAT).BMC medical research methodology · 2022Trial
- An evaluation of a personalised text message reminder compared to a standard text message on postal questionnaire response rates: an embedded randomised controlled trial.F1000Research · 2020Trial
- Does handwriting the name of a potential trial participant on an invitation letter improve recruitment rates? A randomised controlled study within a trial.F1000Research · 2019Trial
- Randomized controlled comparison of cross-sectional survey approaches to optimize follow-up completeness in clinical studies.PloS one · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Handwritten versus scanned signature on the invitation letter: does it make any difference in participation in a population-based study?European journal of epidemiology · 2013Trial
- Effect of questionnaire length, personalisation and reminder type on response rate to a complex postal survey: randomised controlled trial.BMC medical research methodology · 2011Trial
- Effectiveness of incentives and follow-up on increasing survey response rates and participation in field studies.BMC medical research methodology · 2019Article
- Influence of providing information to participants about development of trial outcomes on response rates and attitudes to questionnaire completion: Protocol for a study within a trial.HRB open research · 2019Article
- Article
- Evaluating patient experience in a cystic fibrosis centre using a disease-specific patient satisfaction questionnaire.European journal of pediatrics · 2015Article
- Ethnicity and neighbourhood deprivation determines the response rate in sexual dysfunction surveys.BMC research notes · 2015Article
- Review
- Strategies for achieving a high response rate in a home interview survey.BMC medical research methodology · 2009Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPostal questionnaires are commonly used to collect data for health studies, but non-response reduces study sample sizes and can introduce bias. Finding ways to increase the proportion of questionnaires returned would improve research quality. We sought to quantify the effect on response when researchers address participants personally by name on letters that accompany questionnaires.
methodsAll randomised controlled trials in a published systematic review that evaluated the effect on response of including participants' names on letters that accompany questionnaires were included. Odds ratios for response were pooled in a random effects meta-analysis and evidence for changes in effects over time was assessed using random effects meta-regression.
resultsFourteen randomised controlled trials were included covering a wide range of topics. Most topics were unrelated to health or social care. The odds of response when including participants' names on letters were increased by one-fifth (pooled OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.34; p = 0.015). When participants' names and hand-written signatures were used in combination, the effect was a more substantial increase in response (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.27 to 1.66; p < 0.001), corresponding to an absolute increase in the proportion of questionnaires returned of between 4% and 10%, depending on the baseline response rate. There was no evidence that the magnitude of these effects had declined over time.
conclusionThis meta-analysis of the best available evidence indicates that researchers using postal questionnaires can increase response by addressing participants by name on cover letters. The effect appears to be enhanced by including hand-written signatures.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.