title: Effect of contact letter on control response rates in cancer studies.
abstract: Our analysis of response rates for community controls approached in a retrospective study of melanoma indicates that there was an 11 per cent improvement in response rate when the contact letter was changed from inviting participation in a "healthy study" with no mention of cancer to a format which explicitly explained that the study concerned cancer. This improvement was observed for all age-sex groups except younger males. The result suggest that higher response rates may be achieved in studies of cancer if fuller disclosure of the study purposes is made.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Marrett
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mishkel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009864:Ontario