Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Paris, France.
Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, AP-HP, Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Unité de Santé Publique, Paris, France.
J Med Internet Res. 2022 Mar 10;24(3):e29009. doi: 10.2196/29009.
The 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) is a popular questionnaire for measuring the self-perception of quality of life in a given population of interest. Processing the answers of a participant comprises the calculation of 10 scores corresponding to 8 scales measuring several aspects of perceived health and 2 summary components (physical and mental). Surprisingly, no study has compared score values issued from a telephone interview versus those from an internet-based questionnaire self-completion.
This study aims to compare the SF-36 score values issued from a telephone interview versus those from an internet-based questionnaire self-completion.
Patients with an internet connection and returning home after hospital discharge were enrolled in the SENTIPAT multicenter randomized trial on the day of discharge. They were randomized to either self-completing a set of questionnaires using a dedicated website (internet group) or providing answers to the same questionnaires administered during a telephone interview (telephone group). This ancillary study of the trial compared SF-36 data related to the posthospitalization period in these 2 groups. To anticipate the potential unbalanced characteristics of the responders in the 2 groups, the impact of the mode of administration of the questionnaire on score differences was investigated using a matched sample of individuals originating from the internet and telephone groups (1:1 ratio), in which the matching procedure was based on a propensity score approach. SF-36 scores observed in the internet and telephone groups were compared using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test, and the score differences between the 2 groups were also examined according to Cohen effect size.
Overall, 29.2% (245/840) and 75% (630/840) of SF-36 questionnaires were completed in the internet and telephone groups, respectively (P<.001). Globally, the score differences between groups before matching were similar to those observed in the matched sample. Mean scores observed in the telephone group were all above the corresponding values observed in the internet group. After matching, score differences in 6 out of the 8 SF-36 scales were statistically significant, with a mean difference greater than 5 for 4 scales and an associated mild effect size ranging from 0.22 to 0.29, and with a mean difference near this threshold for 2 other scales (4.57 and 4.56) and a low corresponding effect size (0.18 and 0.16, respectively).
The telephone mode of administration of SF-36 involved an interviewer effect, increasing SF-36 scores. Questionnaire self-completion via the internet should be preferred, and surveys combining various administration methods should be avoided.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01769261; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT01769261.
36 项简短健康调查问卷（SF-36）是一种常用的问卷，用于衡量特定人群的生活质量自我感知。处理参与者的答案包括计算 10 个分数，对应 8 个量表，测量感知健康的几个方面和 2 个综合成分（身体和心理）。令人惊讶的是，没有研究比较过电话访谈和基于互联网的自我完成问卷的得分值。
本研究旨在比较电话访谈和基于互联网的自我完成问卷的 SF-36 得分值。
出院当天，有互联网连接并回家的患者被纳入 SENTIPAT 多中心随机试验。他们被随机分配到使用专用网站（互联网组）自我完成一组问卷，或在电话访谈中提供相同问卷的答案（电话组）。该试验的辅助研究比较了这 2 组患者出院后期间的 SF-36 数据。为了预测 2 组应答者的潜在不平衡特征，使用来自互联网和电话组的个体的匹配样本（1:1 比例）研究了问卷管理方式对评分差异的影响，其中匹配程序基于倾向评分方法。使用 Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney 检验比较互联网和电话组观察到的 SF-36 评分，根据 Cohen 效应大小检查 2 组之间的评分差异。
总体而言，分别有 29.2%（245/840）和 75%（630/840）的 SF-36 问卷在互联网组和电话组完成（P<.001）。总体而言，匹配前组间的评分差异与匹配样本中的观察结果相似。电话组观察到的平均得分均高于互联网组观察到的相应得分。匹配后，8 个 SF-36 量表中有 6 个量表的评分差异具有统计学意义，4 个量表的平均差异大于 5，对应的轻度效应量为 0.22 至 0.29，另外 2 个量表的平均差异接近该阈值（4.57 和 4.56），对应的低效应量分别为 0.18 和 0.16。
SF-36 的电话管理模式涉及访谈者效应，增加了 SF-36 评分。应优先选择通过互联网进行问卷自我完成，避免结合各种管理方法的调查。
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01769261；https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT01769261。
