Fowler Floyd Jackson, Gallagher Patricia M, Stringfellow Vickie L, Zaslavsky Alan M, Thompson Joseph W, Cleary Paul D
Center for Survey Research, University of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts 02125, USA.
Med Care. 2002 Mar;40(3):190-200. doi: 10.1097/00005650-200203000-00003.
To assess the nonresponse bias associated with mail-survey returns and the potential for telephone interviews with nonrespondents to reduce that bias.
A mail survey about health care experiences was conducted with samples of 800 members in each of four health plans. Subsequent attempts were made to interview nonrespondents by telephone.
Response rates for the mail surveys averaged 46%; the telephone effort raised the average to 66%. On 17 of 19 measures of health status or need and use of health services, mail respondents were in poorer health and needed more services than interviewed nonrespondents. Thirteen of 36 reports and ratings of health care also differed significantly between the two groups. Based on administrative data, telephone interviews of mail nonrespondents improved the demographic representativeness of the responding samples. Adjusting mail returns to sample population characteristics could not replicate the dual-mode results.
Returns to mail surveys are likely to be related to survey content and hence are potentially biased. Nonresponse to phone surveys is less directly related to survey content. Telephone interviews with mail nonrespondents not only increase response rates but also can produce less biased samples than mail-only protocols.
评估与邮寄调查回复相关的无应答偏倚，以及对无应答者进行电话访谈以减少该偏倚的可能性。
对四个健康计划中每个计划的800名成员样本进行了关于医疗保健经历的邮寄调查。随后尝试通过电话访谈无应答者。
邮寄调查的回复率平均为46%；电话访谈使平均回复率提高到66%。在19项健康状况或医疗服务需求及使用的指标中，有17项显示，邮寄调查的应答者健康状况比接受电话访谈的无应答者差，且需要更多服务。两组在36项医疗保健报告和评级中，有13项也存在显著差异。基于行政数据，对邮寄调查无应答者进行电话访谈提高了应答样本的人口统计学代表性。根据样本总体特征调整邮寄回复无法复制双模式结果。
邮寄调查的回复可能与调查内容有关，因此可能存在偏倚。电话调查的无应答与调查内容的直接关联较小。对邮寄调查无应答者进行电话访谈不仅能提高回复率，而且与仅采用邮寄方式相比，产生的样本偏倚可能更小。
