Maximising response to postal questionnaires--a systematic review of randomised trials in health research

• Published in: BMC medical research methodology 2006-02, Vol.6 (1), p.5-5, Article 5
• Main Authors: Nakash, Rachel A, Hutton, Jane L, Jørstad-Stein, Ellen C, Gates, Simon, Lamb, Sarah E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Correspondence as Topic; Databases, Bibliographic; Efficiency, Organizational; Health Services Research - methods; Humans; Postal Service; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Surveys and Questionnaires - utilization
• ISSN: 1471-2288; 1471-2288
• DOI: 10.1186/1471-2288-6-5

Postal self-completion questionnaires offer one of the least expensive modes of collecting patient based outcomes in health care research. The purpose of this review is to assess the efficacy of methods of increasing response to postal questionnaires in health care studies on patient populations. The following databases were searched: Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, CDSR, PsycINFO, NRR and ZETOC. Reference lists of relevant reviews and relevant journals were hand searched. Inclusion criteria were randomised trials of strategies to improve questionnaire response in health care research on patient populations. Response rate was defined as the percentage of questionnaires returned after all follow-up efforts. Study quality was assessed by two independent reviewers. The Mantel-Haenszel method was used to calculate the pooled odds ratios. Thirteen studies reporting fifteen trials were included. Implementation of reminder letters and telephone contact had the most significant effect on response rates (odds ratio 3.7, 95% confidence interval 2.30 to 5.97 p = or