The effect of health, socio-economic position, and mode of data collection on non-response in health interview surveys
- 17 September 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
- Vol. 38 (7), 699-706
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494810382474
Abstract
Aims: To investigate the relationship between potential explanatory factors (socio-economic factors and health) and non-response in two general population health interview surveys (face-to-face and telephone), and to compare the effects of the two interview modes on non-response patterns. Methods: Data derives from The Danish Health Interview Survey 2000 (face-to-face interview) and The Funen County Health Survey 2000/2001 (telephone interview). Data on all invited individuals were obtained from administrative registers and linked to survey data at individual level. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations between potential explanatory factors and non-response. Results: The overall response rate was higher in the face-to-face interview survey (74.5%) than in the telephone survey (69.2%). Refusal was the most common reason for non-response and the same factors were generally associated with non-response in both modes of interview. The non-response rate was high among persons with low socio-economic position. No significant associations between health and non-response were found. Conclusions: Health status does not play a systematic role for non-response rates in health interview surveys, but the non-response rate is higher in lower socio-economic groups. Analyses of non-response should be performed to understand the implications of survey findings.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Participation Rates in Epidemiologic StudiesAnnals of Epidemiology, 2007
- 25-year Trends and Socio-demographic Differences in Response Rates: Finnish Adult Health Behaviour SurveyEuropean Journal of Epidemiology, 2006
- Participation in Population StudiesEpidemiology, 2006
- Nonresponse Rates and Nonresponse Bias in Household SurveysPublic Opinion Quarterly, 2006
- Characteristics of non-response in the Danish Health Interview Surveys, 1987–1994European Journal of Public Health, 2005
- Educational inequalities in smoking among men and women aged 16 years and older in 11 European countriesTobacco Control, 2005
- Socioeconomic differences in the prevalence of common chronic diseases: an overview of eight European countriesInternational Journal of Epidemiology, 2005
- Studies with low response proportions may be less biased than studies with high response proportions.American Journal of Epidemiology, 2004
- Non-response and related factors in a nation-wide health surveyEuropean Journal of Epidemiology, 2001
- Response Rate to Mailed Epidemiologic Questionnaires: A Population-based Randomized Trial of Variations in Design and Mailing RoutinesAmerican Journal of Epidemiology, 1998