Demographic and Occupational Predictors of Early Response to a Mailed Invitation to Enroll in a Longitudinal Health Study
Abstract
Background: Often in survey research, subsets of the population invited to complete the survey do not choose to participate. This may result in substantial bias if important dissimilarities between participants and non-participants are not identified. Differences between participants and non-participants, as well as the heterogeneity of non-participants, have been well-documented; however few studies have investigated the impact of early response (refusal or consent) on epidemiologic studies. Results: Demographic, deployment, and occupational characteristics were studied among early refusers (n=704), early consenters (n=21,820), and late or non-responders (n=191,867) in a large cohort study of US military personnel. Early response was defined by those who submitted a questionnaire or explicitly refused to participate within two months from the start of study enrollment. From regression analyses, we found that factors associated with both early refusal and early consent included older age, higher education, White race/ethnicity, Reserve/Guard affiliation and certain information technology and support occupations. Conclusions: These data suggest that early refusers may differ from late/non-responders, and that certain characteristics are associated with both early refusal and early consent to participate. Structured recruitment efforts which utilize these differences may achieve early response such that valuable resources and mail costs are reduced in subsequent contact efforts.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 18, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA496869
Entities
People
- Besa Smith
- Jean-Paul Chretien
- Laura K. Chu
- Margaret A.K. Ryan
- Tyler Clain Smith
Organizations
- Naval Health Research Center