Strategies to improve response rates to web surveys: A literature review

Sammut, Roberta; Griscti, Odette; Norman, Ian

doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2021.104058

Cited by 178 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Third, our response rate was 34% (n=2088), which is approximately 10% lower than average controlled studies with surgical patients and health care providers [ 56 ] and online surveys generally [ 57 ]. A higher response rate from a future study using the same platform will help inform the outcomes reported by this cohort [ 58 ]. Fourth, no control group was used, nor were health care providers or administrators included at this stage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated Intraoperative Short Messaging Service Updates: Quality Improvement Initiative to Relieve Caregivers’ Worries

Mignault¹,

Tchouaket²,

Robins³

et al. 2022

JMIR Perioper Med

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Background Undergoing a surgical procedure is anxiety provoking for patients and their caregivers. During the intraoperative period, caregivers seek out informational updates from health care professionals, a situation complicated by COVID-19 health measures that require caregivers to wait outside the hospital. Short messaging service (SMS)-based communication that allows caregivers to follow their loved ones through surgery has shown promise in relieving anxiety and improving satisfaction with overall care. This form of communication is also well accepted by health care professionals and may be effective at relieving staff burden. Objective Here, we describe a quality improvement initiative of a standardized and integrated intraoperative SMS-based system to improve communication between surgical teams and caregivers. The main goal was to improve satisfaction with care, while the secondary goal was to reduce caregiver anxiety. Methods The initiative followed the framework of the Model for Improvement. A large tertiary care hospital offered the SMS to caregivers who were waiting for loved ones undergoing surgery. SMS messages were integrated into the clinical information system software and sent at key points during the surgical journey to phone numbers provided by caregivers. A satisfaction survey was sent to caregivers 1 business day after surgery. Data were collected between February 16 and July 14, 2021. Results Of the 8129 surgeries scheduled, caregivers waiting for 6149 (75.6%) surgeries agreed to receive SMS messages. A total of 34,129 messages were sent. The satisfaction survey was completed by 2088 (34%) of the 6149 caregivers. Satisfaction with messages was high, with the majority of respondents reporting that the messages received were adequate (1476/2085, 70.8%), clear (1545/2077, 74.4%), informative (1488/2078, 71.6%), and met their needs (1234/2077, 59.4%). The overall satisfaction score was high (4.5 out of 5), and caregivers reported that receiving text messages resulted in a reduction in anxiety (score=8.2 out of 10). Technical errors were reported by 69 (3.3%) caregivers. Suggestions for improvements included having messages sent more often; providing greater patient details, including the patient’s health status; and the service being offered in other languages. Conclusions This digital health initiative provided SMS messages that were systematically sent to caregivers waiting for their loved ones undergoing surgery, just as COVID-19 restrictions began preventing waiting onsite. The messages were used across 15 surgical specialties and have since been implemented hospital-wide. Digital health care innovations have the capacity to improve family-centered communication; what patients and their families find useful and appreciate will ultimately determine their success.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated Intraoperative Short Messaging Service Updates: Quality Improvement Initiative to Relieve Caregivers’ Worries

Mignault¹,

Tchouaket²,

Robins³

et al. 2022

JMIR Perioper Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…If the purpose is to increase the population of patients with follow-up data, increasing the initial sample size and allowing a higher drop-out rate can be a feasible alternative to telephone reminders, as this is less time-consuming for researchers.Several studies have investigated the use of different types of reminders and incentives to complete surveys, with emails or text reminders being considered the most effective in terms of time consumption for researchers (as compared to telephone reminders). Still, a recent review of strategies to improve response rates concluded,that “research studies are needed to explore whether the different strategies used by researchers with the intent to improve response rates are acceptable to potential participants and to evaluate the potential synergistic effect of combinations of several strategies identified in this review.” [ 31 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the use of telephone reminders to increase survey response rates affect outcome estimates? An ancillary analysis of a prospective cohort study of patients with low back pain

Udby

Riis

Thomsen

et al. 2021

BMC Musculoskelet Disord

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Background Research is often undertaken using patient-reported outcomes from questionnaires. Achieving a high response rate demands expensive and time-consuming methods like telephone reminders. However, it is unknown whether telephone reminders change outcome estimates or only affect the response rate in research of populations with low back pain (LBP). The aim is to compare baseline characteristics and the change in outcome between patients responding before and after receiving a telephone reminder. Methods This is an ancillary analysis of data from a prospective cohort study employing questionnaires from 812 adults with LBP lasting more than 3 months. Patients not responding to the 52-week questionnaire were sent reminder emails after two and 3 weeks and delivered postal reminders after 4 weeks. Patients still not responding were contacted by telephone, with a maximum of two attempts. Patients were categorised into three groups: 1) patients responding before a telephone reminder was performed; 2) patients responding after the telephone reminder and 3) patients not responding at all. A positive outcome was defined as a 30% improvement on the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire after 52 weeks. Results A total of 695 patients (85.2%) responded. Of these, 643 patients were classified in Group 1 and 52 patients were classified in Group 2. One hundred seventeen were classified in Group 3. No differences in outcome or baseline characteristics was found. In Group 1, 41.3% had a positive outcome, and in Group 2 48.9% had a positive outcome (P = 0.297). In group 3, non-respondents were younger, more often unemployed, more often smokers, more often reported co-morbidity, and reported higher depression scores than respondents. Conclusions Using a telephone reminder had no consequence on outcome estimates nor were there any differences in baseline characteristics between patients who responded before or after the telephone reminder. Trial registration The initial trial was registered in Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03058315).

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“…Here, research has shown, for instance, that SMS pre-notifications to inform respondents of an upcoming online study increase study response (Sammut et al, 2021). Such pre-notifications also help to inform participants that they may have to double check their spam folders because the study invitations were flagged as mass email by spam-blocking tools (de Bruijne & Wijnant, 2014; Mavletova & Couper, 2014).…”

Section: Being More Ambitious About Data Quality In Online Op/ob Surv...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, their effect on response and completion is generally small (Becker et al, 2019; Göritz, 2010; Sánchez-Fernández et al, 2010). Oddly enough, when respondents are female, have a lower income, lack topic saliency, or prior survey experience, then lottery incentives (e.g., ten 25-euro or five 20-euro gift certificates) seem to improve response and retention rates in online longitudinal studies (Heerwegh, 2006; Sammut et al, 2021; Su et al, 2008).…”

Section: Being More Ambitious About Data Quality In Online Op/ob Surv...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Conducting organizational survey and experimental research online: From convenient to ambitious in study designs, recruiting, and data quality

Quaquebeke

Salem²,

Dijke

et al. 2022

Organizational Psychology Review

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Conducting organizational research via online surveys and experiments offers a host of advantages over traditional forms of data collection when it comes to sampling for more advanced study designs, while also ensuring data quality. To draw attention to these advantages and encourage researchers to fully leverage them, the present paper is structured into two parts. First, along a structure of commonly used research designs, we showcase select organizational psychology (OP) and organizational behavior (OB) research and explain how the Internet makes it feasible to conduct research not only with larger and more representative samples, but also with more complex research designs than circumstances usually allow in offline settings. Subsequently, because online data collections often also come with some data quality concerns, in the second section, we synthesize the methodological literature to outline three improvement areas and several accompanying strategies for bolstering data quality. Plain Language Summary: These days, many theories from the fields of organizational psychology and organizational behavior are tested online simply because it is easier. The point of this paper is to illustrate the unique advantages of the Internet beyond mere convenience—specifically, how the related technologies offer more than simply the ability to mirror offline studies. Accordingly, our paper first guides readers through examples of more ambitious online survey and experimental research designs within the organizational domain. Second, we address the potential data quality drawbacks of these approaches by outlining three concrete areas of improvement. Each comes with specific recommendations that can ensure higher data quality when conducting organizational survey or experimental research online.

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Strategies to improve response rates to web surveys: A literature review

Cited by 178 publications

References 67 publications

Automated Intraoperative Short Messaging Service Updates: Quality Improvement Initiative to Relieve Caregivers’ Worries

Automated Intraoperative Short Messaging Service Updates: Quality Improvement Initiative to Relieve Caregivers’ Worries

Does the use of telephone reminders to increase survey response rates affect outcome estimates? An ancillary analysis of a prospective cohort study of patients with low back pain

Conducting organizational survey and experimental research online: From convenient to ambitious in study designs, recruiting, and data quality

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