Citation

Rivara FP, Koepsell TD, Wang J, Durbin D, Jaffe KM, Vavilala M, Dorsch A, Roper-Caldbeck M, Houseknecht E, Temkin N. Health Serv. Res. 2011; 46(3): 964-981.

Affiliation

Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, Box 359960, 325 Ninth Ave, Seattle WA 98104 Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, Seattle, WA Departments of Pediatrics and Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Departments of Epidemiology and Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Departments of Pediatrics and Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Departments of Pediatrics and Anesthesiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA Departments of Biostatistics and Neurological Surgery, University of Washington. Seattle, WA Department of Pediatrics, Center for Injury Research and Prevention, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1475-6773.2010.01236.x

PMID

21275989

Abstract

Objective. To identify sociodemographic factors associated with completing a follow-up survey about health status on the web versus by telephone, and to examine differences in reported health-related quality of life by method of response. Data Sources/Study Settings. Survey about child health status of 896 parents of children aged 0-17 years treated in a hospital emergency department or admitted for a traumatic brain injury or arm injury, and 227 injured adolescents aged 14-17 years. Study Design. The main outcomes were characteristics of those who completed a follow-up survey on the web versus by telephone and health-related quality of life by method of response. Principal Findings. Email addresses were provided by 76.9 percent of parents and 56.5 percent of adolescents at baseline. The survey was completed on the web by 64.9 percent of parents and 40.2 percent of adolescents through email. Parents with email access who were Blacks, Hispanics, had lower incomes, and those who were not working were less likely to choose the web mode for completing the survey. Unlike adolescents, the amount of time for parents to complete the survey online was significantly shorter than completion by telephone. Differences by survey mode were small but statistically significant in some of the six functional outcome measures examined. Conclusions. Survey mode was associated with several sociodemographic characteristics. Sole use of web surveys could provide biased data.

Language: en