Journal of clinical epidemiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Use of both Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment questionnaire and Short Form-36 among tibial-fracture patients was redundant.
To compare the Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment Dysfunction Index (SMFA DI) and the Short Form-36 Physical Component Summary (SF-36 PCS) scores among patients undergoing operative management of tibial fractures. ⋯ In patients with tibial-shaft fractures, the SMFA DI offered no significant advantages over the SF-36 PCS score. These results, along with the usefulness of SF-36 for comparing populations, recommend the SF-36 for assessing physical function in studies of patients with tibial fractures.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Thicker paper and larger font increased response and completeness in a postal survey.
To investigate the effect of font size and paper thickness on the response to, and completion of, a self-completion postal questionnaire among older people with joint pain. ⋯ This study demonstrates that questionnaires in larger font and on thicker paper may produce higher and more complete responses than surveys using standard size font and standard thickness paper, and should therefore be considered in studies among older people.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Postal surveys of physicians gave superior response rates over telephone interviews in a randomized trial.
To compare general practitioner (GP) response to a telephone interview with response to a postal survey with three reminders in a randomized controlled trial. ⋯ These results show that postal surveys with three reminders can have superior response rates compared with a telephone interview.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Evaluation of the minimal important difference for the feeling thermometer and the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire in patients with chronic airflow obstruction.
The chronic respiratory questionnaire (CRQ), the St. Georges Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), and the feeling thermometer (FT) evaluate change in health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with chronic airflow limitation (CAL). Although the interpretability, and in particular the minimal important difference (MID) in score changes, is well established for the CRQ, this is not the case for the SGRQ and FT. The objective of our study is to explore the interpretation of the SGRQ and FT. ⋯ An MID for the SGRQ approximates the previously suggested estimate of 4 on a scale of 0 to 100. The MID for the FT in patients with CAL is approximately 5 to 8 units on the 0 to 100 scale. These MID estimates should facilitate interpretation of clinical trials in which outcome measures include the SGRQ or FT.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effects on response rates and costs of stamps vs business reply in a mail survey of physicians.
In the general population, the use of stamps rather than business reply postage significantly improves response rates in mail surveys. Among physicians, however, a smaller effect might be anticipated due to their greater sophistication. An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that stamps would improve response rates and lower costs in a physician survey that included intensive follow up. ⋯ Response rates, calculated as completed surveys divided by eligible physicians, were 83.8 and 72.1% for stamps and business reply respectively, a difference of 11.7 percentage points (p < 0.01). Moreover, the total cost per completed survey was $11.18 for the physicians receiving stamps and $14.25 for the physicians receiving business reply. As in mail surveys of the general public, the use of first-class stamps on return envelopes both improves response rates and reduces cost in surveys of physicians.