A selective follow-up study on a public health survey
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: The non-response rates in surveys are increasing which is problematic as it means that a progressively smaller proportion of the population represents the majority, and it is uncertain how health survey results are affected. This follow-up was performed on the non-responders to the postal questionnaire in the public health survey Life and Health, conducted in Örebro County Council, Sweden, where large differences in response rates had been found between different socio-demographic groups and geographical areas. The main objective was to analyse non-response bias regarding self-rated health. METHODS: This follow-up study was conducted as a census to all non-responders in the area that had the lowest response rate and, in one other geographical area used as a control. It was carried out by telephone interviews, 49.3% (580 individuals) answered the follow-up. The outcome variable was self-rated health, a main variable in public health surveys. Differences in response patterns between responders and initial non-responders were approximated by prevalences with confidence intervals and adjusted odds ratios. RESULTS: Poor health was more common in the initial non-response group than among the responders, even with consideration given to sex, age, country of birth and education. However, good health was equally common among responders and initial non-responders. CONCLUSIONS: Public health surveys can be biased due to certain groups being under-represented or not represented at all. For this reason, in repeated public health surveys, we recommend selective follow-ups of such groups at regular intervals.
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Prior research has found survey respondents to be somewhat healthier than nonrespondents.
“Indeed, prior research has found survey respondents to be somewhat healthier than nonrespondents.16,29”
From Prevalence and Profile of High-Impact Chronic Pain in the United States (2019) · cites this paper as [16]
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Prevalence and Profile of High-Impact Chronic Pain in the United States
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- Authors
- Linden-Bostrom, M., & Persson, C.
- Affiliations
- Örebro County Council (SE)
- ORCID
- Persson, C.
- Venue
- The European Journal of Public Health
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2012-01-16
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 152-157
- ISSN
- 1101-1262 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-360X
- PMC
- PMC3553586
- OpenAlex
- W2136417864
- Cited by
- 49
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 4 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 24.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- European Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Survey Sampling and Estimation Techniques
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Medical Studies
- Keywords
- survey nonresponse, nonresponse bias, self-rated health, postal questionnaires, underrepresented groups, health status
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Attitude to Health, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Health Status, Health Surveys, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Postal Service, Public Health, Surveys and Questionnaires, Socioeconomic Factors, Sweden, Telephone, Health Behavior, Bias, Sex Distribution, Young Adult
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