Trial reportAmerican journal of public health2016
Population Survey Features and Response Rates: A Randomized Experiment.
Trial report in American journal of public health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers, 2 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
85 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Methods to increase response to postal and electronic questionnaires.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The effect of monetary incentive on survey response for vulnerable children and youths: A randomized controlled trial.PloS one · 2020Trial
- The feasibility of web surveys for obtaining patient-reported outcomes from cancer survivors: a randomized experiment comparing survey modes and brochure enclosures.BMC medical research methodology · 2019Trial
- Health-related quality of life in parents of adolescents in 2019, 2021 and 2023.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Challenges in measuring acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility: a case study in the pediatric intensive care unit.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Evolution with age of the relationship between sex and post-COVID symptoms: a population-based cohort study.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Twenty years of university-graduated osteopaths in Belgium: A cross-sectional survey.PloS one · 2026Article
- Social and Demographic Determinants of Health: A Descriptive Study on the Impact of Place of Residence and Community Belonging.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The Ability of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-5 to Identify Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder in the General Population.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Prevalence of Cannabis Use Disorder Among Primary Care Patients with Varying Frequency of Past-Year Cannabis Use.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
- Increasing Participation and Completion Rates in Questionnaire Surveys of Primary Care Patients: Cluster-Randomized Study.Interactive journal of medical research · 2025Article
- Discriminative validity of a substance use symptom checklist for moderate-severe DSM-5 cannabis use disorder (CUD) in primary care settings.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2024Article
- The misuse of codeine containing medicines: Perceptions and behaviours of qualified pharmacy professionals.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2024Article
- Genetic and Environmental Influences on Sexual Orientation: Moderation by Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Early-Life Adversity.Archives of sexual behavior · 2024Article
- Work status changes and associated factors in a nationwide sample of Norwegian long-term breast cancer survivors.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2024Article
- Comparing Cannabis Use for Pain to Use for Other Reasons in Primary Care Patients.Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM · 2024Article
- Evaluating a health system-wide opioid disposal intervention distributing home-disposal bags.Health services research · 2023Observational
- The Use of Machine Translation for Outreach and Health Communication in Epidemiology and Public Health: Scoping Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2023Article
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo study the effects of several survey features on response rates in a general population health survey.
methodsIn 2012 and 2013, 8000 households in British Columbia, Canada, were randomly allocated to 1 of 7 survey variants, each containing a different combination of survey features. Features compared included administration modes (paper vs online), prepaid incentive ($2 coin vs none), lottery incentive (instant vs end-of-study), questionnaire length (10 minutes vs 30 minutes), and sampling frame (InfoCanada vs Canada Post).
resultsThe overall response rate across the 7 groups was 27.9% (range = 17.1-43.4). All survey features except the sampling frame were associated with statistically significant differences in response rates. The survey mode elicited the largest effect on the odds of response (odds ratio [OR] = 2.04; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.61, 2.59), whereas the sampling frame showed the least effect (OR = 1.14; 95% CI = 0.98, 1.34). The highest response was achieved by mailing a short paper survey with a prepaid incentive.
conclusionsIn a mailed general population health survey in Canada, a 40% to 50% response rate can be expected. Questionnaire administration mode, survey length, and type of incentive affect response rates.
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