Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial, College London, Charing Cross Campus, Reynolds Building, St Dunstans Road, London W6 8RP, UK.
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2010 Jul;64(7):580-4. doi: 10.1136/jech.2009.098830.
Randomised controlled trials often rely on questionnaires for follow-up.
To compare response rates to an online and postal 12-month follow-up questionnaire on sexual health in female students who took part in a chlamydia screening trial.
1329 sexually active female students aged 16-27 were recruited from 12 universities and further education (FE) colleges. The 299 participants recruited between September 2004 and February 2005 were sent a postal questionnaire after 12 months. The 1030 participants recruited between March and December 2005 were contacted by email after 12 months and given a weblink to an online questionnaire.
The response rates to the 12-month questionnaire in the online and postal groups were 51% and 29% 4 weeks after follow-up commenced (RR 1.78 (1.47 to 2.14)) and 72% and 59% after 3 months. After adjusting for ethnicity, smoking, type of educational institution (university or FE college) and subject studied (health-related or not), the RR at 4 weeks was 1.88 (1.42 to 2.50). However, a prior telephone call to confirm contact details increased the response rate at 3 months in the postal group. In the online group, university students, those of white ethnicity and non-smokers had higher response rates at 4 weeks.
In this young student population, an online questionnaire was quicker, cheaper and more efficient than a postal questionnaire. However, some FE college students did not have an email address. Telephone prompts and postal questionnaires were essential in obtaining a good response rate.
随机对照试验通常依赖于问卷进行随访。
比较参加衣原体筛查试验的女学生在线和邮寄 12 个月随访性健康问卷的应答率。
从 12 所大学和继续教育（FE）学院招募了 1329 名 16-27 岁的活跃性女性。2004 年 9 月至 2005 年 2 月招募的 299 名参与者在 12 个月后收到了邮寄问卷。2005 年 3 月至 12 月招募的 1030 名参与者在 12 个月后通过电子邮件联系，并提供了一个在线问卷的网络链接。
在线组和邮寄组在随访开始后 4 周的 12 个月问卷应答率分别为 51%和 29%（RR 1.78（1.47 至 2.14）），3 个月后分别为 72%和 59%。在校正了种族、吸烟、教育机构类型（大学或 FE 学院）和所学专业（与健康相关或不相关）后，4 周时的 RR 为 1.88（1.42 至 2.50）。然而，在邮寄组中，预先打电话确认联系方式增加了 3 个月时的应答率。在在线组中，大学生、白种人和不吸烟者在 4 周时的应答率更高。
在这个年轻的学生群体中，在线问卷比邮寄问卷更快、更便宜、更高效。然而，一些 FE 学院的学生没有电子邮件地址。电话提示和邮寄问卷对于获得良好的应答率至关重要。
