A study update newsletter or Post-it® note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial: an embedded randomised factorial trial
<br/><strong>Background: </strong>Participants not returning data collection questionnaires is a problem for many randomised controlled trials. The resultant loss of data leads to a reduction in statistical power and can result in bias. The aim of this study was to assess whether t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
F1000Research
2019
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| _version_ | 1797082329916637184 |
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| author | Rodgers, S Sbizzera, I Cockayne, S Fairhurst, C Lamb, SE Vernon, W Watson, J Hewitt, C Torgerson, D |
| author_facet | Rodgers, S Sbizzera, I Cockayne, S Fairhurst, C Lamb, SE Vernon, W Watson, J Hewitt, C Torgerson, D |
| author_sort | Rodgers, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <br/><strong>Background: </strong>Participants not returning data collection questionnaires is a problem for many randomised controlled trials. The resultant loss of data leads to a reduction in statistical power and can result in bias. The aim of this study was to assess whether the use of a study update newsletter and/or a handwritten or printed Post-it® note sticker increased postal questionnaire response rates for participants of a randomised controlled trial.<br/><strong>Method: </strong>This study was a factorial trial embedded within a host trial of a falls-prevention intervention among men and women aged ≥65 years under podiatric care. Participants were randomised into one of six groups: newsletter plus handwritten Post-it®; newsletter plus printed Post-it®; newsletter only; handwritten Post-it® only; printed Post-it® only; or no newsletter or Post-it®. The results were combined with those from previous embedded randomised controlled trials in meta-analyses.<br/><strong>Results: </strong>The overall 12-month response rate was 803/826 (97.2%) (newsletter 95.1%, no newsletter 99.3%, printed Post-it® 97.5%, handwritten Post-it® 97.1%, no Post-it® 97.1%). The study update newsletter had a detrimental effect on response rates (adjusted odds ratio 0.14, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.48, p<0.01) and time to return the questionnaire (adjusted hazard ratio 0.86, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.99, p=0.04). No other statistically significant differences were observed between the intervention groups on response rates, time to response, and the need for a reminder.<br/><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Post-it® notes have been shown to be ineffective in three embedded trials, whereas the evidence for newsletter reminders is still uncertain. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T01:26:38Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:9231b54a-2121-453e-a174-1a8da0da5638 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T01:26:38Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | F1000Research |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:9231b54a-2121-453e-a174-1a8da0da56382022-03-26T23:23:49ZA study update newsletter or Post-it® note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial: an embedded randomised factorial trialJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:9231b54a-2121-453e-a174-1a8da0da5638EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordF1000Research2019Rodgers, SSbizzera, ICockayne, SFairhurst, CLamb, SEVernon, WWatson, JHewitt, CTorgerson, D<br/><strong>Background: </strong>Participants not returning data collection questionnaires is a problem for many randomised controlled trials. The resultant loss of data leads to a reduction in statistical power and can result in bias. The aim of this study was to assess whether the use of a study update newsletter and/or a handwritten or printed Post-it® note sticker increased postal questionnaire response rates for participants of a randomised controlled trial.<br/><strong>Method: </strong>This study was a factorial trial embedded within a host trial of a falls-prevention intervention among men and women aged ≥65 years under podiatric care. Participants were randomised into one of six groups: newsletter plus handwritten Post-it®; newsletter plus printed Post-it®; newsletter only; handwritten Post-it® only; printed Post-it® only; or no newsletter or Post-it®. The results were combined with those from previous embedded randomised controlled trials in meta-analyses.<br/><strong>Results: </strong>The overall 12-month response rate was 803/826 (97.2%) (newsletter 95.1%, no newsletter 99.3%, printed Post-it® 97.5%, handwritten Post-it® 97.1%, no Post-it® 97.1%). The study update newsletter had a detrimental effect on response rates (adjusted odds ratio 0.14, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.48, p<0.01) and time to return the questionnaire (adjusted hazard ratio 0.86, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.99, p=0.04). No other statistically significant differences were observed between the intervention groups on response rates, time to response, and the need for a reminder.<br/><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Post-it® notes have been shown to be ineffective in three embedded trials, whereas the evidence for newsletter reminders is still uncertain. |
| spellingShingle | Rodgers, S Sbizzera, I Cockayne, S Fairhurst, C Lamb, SE Vernon, W Watson, J Hewitt, C Torgerson, D A study update newsletter or Post-it® note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial: an embedded randomised factorial trial |
| title | A study update newsletter or Post-it® note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial: an embedded randomised factorial trial |
| title_full | A study update newsletter or Post-it® note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial: an embedded randomised factorial trial |
| title_fullStr | A study update newsletter or Post-it® note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial: an embedded randomised factorial trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | A study update newsletter or Post-it® note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial: an embedded randomised factorial trial |
| title_short | A study update newsletter or Post-it® note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial: an embedded randomised factorial trial |
| title_sort | study update newsletter or post it r note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial an embedded randomised factorial trial |
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