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BMC Medical Research Methodology
Published in: BMC Medical Research Methodology 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Personalized contact strategies and predictors of time to survey completion: analysis of two sequential randomized trials

Authors: Victor D Dinglas, Minxuan Huang, Kristin A Sepulveda, Mariela Pinedo, Ramona O Hopkins, Elizabeth Colantuoni, Dale M Needham, the NIH NHLBI ARDS Network

Published in: BMC Medical Research Methodology | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

Effective strategies for contacting and recruiting study participants are critical in conducting clinical research. In this study, we conducted two sequential randomized controlled trials of mail- and telephone-based strategies for contacting and recruiting participants, and evaluated participant-related variables’ association with time to survey completion and survey completion rates. Subjects eligible for this study were survivors of acute lung injury who had been previously enrolled in a 12-month observational follow-up study evaluating their physical, cognitive and mental health outcomes, with their last study visit completed at a median of 34 months previously.

Methods

Eligible subjects were contacted to complete a new research survey as part of two randomized trials, initially using a randomized mail-based contact strategy, followed by a randomized telephone-based contact strategy for non-responders to the mail strategy. Both strategies focused on using either a personalized versus a generic approach. In addition, 18 potentially relevant subject-related variables (e.g., demographics, last known physical and mental health status) were evaluated for association with time to survey completion.

Results

Of 308 eligible subjects, 67% completed the survey with a median (IQR) of 3 (2, 5) contact attempts required. There was no significant difference in the time to survey completion for either randomized trial of mail- or phone-based contact strategy. Among all subject-related variables, age ≤40 years and minority race were independently associated with a longer time to survey completion.

Conclusion

We found that age ≤40 years and minority race were associated with a longer time to survey completion, but personalized versus generic approaches to mail- and telephone-based contact strategies had no significant effect. Repeating both mail and telephone contact attempts was important for increasing survey completion rate.

Trial registration

NCT00719446.
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Metadata
Title
Personalized contact strategies and predictors of time to survey completion: analysis of two sequential randomized trials
Authors
Victor D Dinglas
Minxuan Huang
Kristin A Sepulveda
Mariela Pinedo
Ramona O Hopkins
Elizabeth Colantuoni
Dale M Needham
the NIH NHLBI ARDS Network
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Medical Research Methodology / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2288
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-15-5

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