Improving Electronic Survey Response Rates Among Cancer Center Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Pilot Study
BackgroundSurveys play a vital role in cancer research. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of electronic surveys is crucial to improve understanding of the patient experience. However, response rates to electronic surveys are often lower compared with those of paper survey...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JMIR Publications
2021-08-01
|
| Series: | JMIR Cancer |
| Online Access: | https://cancer.jmir.org/2021/3/e30265 |
| _version_ | 1827859125278605312 |
|---|---|
| author | Cassandra A Hathaway Melody N Chavez Mika Kadono Dana Ketcher Dana E Rollison Erin M Siegel Anita R Peoples Cornelia M Ulrich Frank J Penedo Shelley S Tworoger Brian D Gonzalez |
| author_facet | Cassandra A Hathaway Melody N Chavez Mika Kadono Dana Ketcher Dana E Rollison Erin M Siegel Anita R Peoples Cornelia M Ulrich Frank J Penedo Shelley S Tworoger Brian D Gonzalez |
| author_sort | Cassandra A Hathaway |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundSurveys play a vital role in cancer research. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of electronic surveys is crucial to improve understanding of the patient experience. However, response rates to electronic surveys are often lower compared with those of paper surveys.
ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the best approach to improve response rates for an electronic survey administered to patients at a cancer center during the COVID-19 pandemic.
MethodsWe contacted 2750 patients seen at Moffitt Cancer Center in the prior 5 years via email to complete a survey regarding their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, with patients randomly assigned to a series of variations of prenotifications (ie, postcard, letter) or incentives (ie, small gift, modest gift card). In total, eight combinations were evaluated. Qualitative interviews were conducted to understand the level of patient understanding and burden with the survey, and quantitative analysis was used to evaluate the response rates between conditions.
ResultsA total of 262 (9.5%) patients completed the survey and 9 participated in a qualitative interview. Interviews revealed minimal barriers in understanding or burden, which resulted in minor survey design changes. Compared to sending an email only, sending a postcard or letter prior to the email improved response rates from 3.7% to 9.8%. Similarly, inclusion of an incentive significantly increased the response rate from 5.4% to 16.7%, especially among racial (3.0% to 12.2%) and ethnic (6.4% to 21.0%) minorities, as well as among patients with low socioeconomic status (3.1% to 14.9%).
ConclusionsStrategies to promote effective response rates include prenotification postcards or letters as well as monetary incentives. This work can inform future survey development to increase response rates for electronic surveys, particularly among hard-to-reach populations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:04:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ddf1d4550fc64840a2909790b6539f34 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2369-1999 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:04:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Cancer |
| spelling | doaj.art-ddf1d4550fc64840a2909790b6539f342023-08-28T18:28:33ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Cancer2369-19992021-08-0173e3026510.2196/30265Improving Electronic Survey Response Rates Among Cancer Center Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Pilot StudyCassandra A Hathawayhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2919-0499Melody N Chavezhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8707-7072Mika Kadonohttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3978-8379Dana Ketcherhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3569-9344Dana E Rollisonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3171-8045Erin M Siegelhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1779-2510Anita R Peopleshttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3645-3960Cornelia M Ulrichhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4502-1695Frank J Penedohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2780-0417Shelley S Tworogerhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6986-7046Brian D Gonzalezhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5108-5735 BackgroundSurveys play a vital role in cancer research. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of electronic surveys is crucial to improve understanding of the patient experience. However, response rates to electronic surveys are often lower compared with those of paper surveys. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the best approach to improve response rates for an electronic survey administered to patients at a cancer center during the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsWe contacted 2750 patients seen at Moffitt Cancer Center in the prior 5 years via email to complete a survey regarding their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, with patients randomly assigned to a series of variations of prenotifications (ie, postcard, letter) or incentives (ie, small gift, modest gift card). In total, eight combinations were evaluated. Qualitative interviews were conducted to understand the level of patient understanding and burden with the survey, and quantitative analysis was used to evaluate the response rates between conditions. ResultsA total of 262 (9.5%) patients completed the survey and 9 participated in a qualitative interview. Interviews revealed minimal barriers in understanding or burden, which resulted in minor survey design changes. Compared to sending an email only, sending a postcard or letter prior to the email improved response rates from 3.7% to 9.8%. Similarly, inclusion of an incentive significantly increased the response rate from 5.4% to 16.7%, especially among racial (3.0% to 12.2%) and ethnic (6.4% to 21.0%) minorities, as well as among patients with low socioeconomic status (3.1% to 14.9%). ConclusionsStrategies to promote effective response rates include prenotification postcards or letters as well as monetary incentives. This work can inform future survey development to increase response rates for electronic surveys, particularly among hard-to-reach populations.https://cancer.jmir.org/2021/3/e30265 |
| spellingShingle | Cassandra A Hathaway Melody N Chavez Mika Kadono Dana Ketcher Dana E Rollison Erin M Siegel Anita R Peoples Cornelia M Ulrich Frank J Penedo Shelley S Tworoger Brian D Gonzalez Improving Electronic Survey Response Rates Among Cancer Center Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Pilot Study JMIR Cancer |
| title | Improving Electronic Survey Response Rates Among Cancer Center Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Pilot Study |
| title_full | Improving Electronic Survey Response Rates Among Cancer Center Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Pilot Study |
| title_fullStr | Improving Electronic Survey Response Rates Among Cancer Center Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Pilot Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improving Electronic Survey Response Rates Among Cancer Center Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Pilot Study |
| title_short | Improving Electronic Survey Response Rates Among Cancer Center Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Pilot Study |
| title_sort | improving electronic survey response rates among cancer center patients during the covid 19 pandemic mixed methods pilot study |
| url | https://cancer.jmir.org/2021/3/e30265 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cassandraahathaway improvingelectronicsurveyresponseratesamongcancercenterpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicmixedmethodspilotstudy AT melodynchavez improvingelectronicsurveyresponseratesamongcancercenterpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicmixedmethodspilotstudy AT mikakadono improvingelectronicsurveyresponseratesamongcancercenterpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicmixedmethodspilotstudy AT danaketcher improvingelectronicsurveyresponseratesamongcancercenterpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicmixedmethodspilotstudy AT danaerollison improvingelectronicsurveyresponseratesamongcancercenterpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicmixedmethodspilotstudy AT erinmsiegel improvingelectronicsurveyresponseratesamongcancercenterpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicmixedmethodspilotstudy AT anitarpeoples improvingelectronicsurveyresponseratesamongcancercenterpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicmixedmethodspilotstudy AT corneliamulrich improvingelectronicsurveyresponseratesamongcancercenterpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicmixedmethodspilotstudy AT frankjpenedo improvingelectronicsurveyresponseratesamongcancercenterpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicmixedmethodspilotstudy AT shelleystworoger improvingelectronicsurveyresponseratesamongcancercenterpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicmixedmethodspilotstudy AT briandgonzalez improvingelectronicsurveyresponseratesamongcancercenterpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicmixedmethodspilotstudy |