ArticleBMC medical research methodology2021
Does pre-notification increase questionnaire response rates: a randomised controlled trial nested within a systematic review.
Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Methods to increase response to postal and electronic questionnaires.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
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
backgroundMissing outcome data can lead to bias in the results of systematic reviews. One way to address missing outcome data is by requesting the data from the trial authors, but non-response is common. One way to potentially improve response rates is by sending study participants advance communication. During the update of a systematic review examining the effect of pre-notification on response rates, study authors needed to be contacted for further information. This study was nested within the systematic review by randomising authors to receive a notification of the upcoming request for information. The objective was to test if pre-notification increased response rates.
methodsThe participants were study authors included in the systematic review, whose studies were at unclear risk of bias. The intervention was a pre-notification of the request for further information, sent 1 day before the request. The outcome was defined as the proportion of authors who responded to the request for information. Authors were randomised by simple randomisation. Thirty three authors were randomised to the pre-notification arm, and 42 were randomised to the control arm. Authors were blinded to the possibility of an alternative condition.
resultsAll authors randomised were analysed. 14/33 (42.4%) authors in the pre-notification arm had returned responses to the questionnaire, and 18/42 (42.9%) in the control arm. There was no evidence of a difference between these groups (absolute difference = - 0.5, 95% CI (- 23.4 to 22.5%), p = 1). We received no complaints about receiving the pre-notification.
conclusionsThis study's results do not support the hypothesis that pre-notification increases response from study authors being contacted for a request for more information. However, the study has a low power, and the results may not generalise to other contexts, methods of administering a pre-notification, or study populations.
trial registrationRegistration and protocol: This trial is not registered with any trial registry. However, the protocol was posted in advance on the Open Science Framework website and is available on the Open Science Framework website: DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/MSV2W or https://osf.io/msv2w/.
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