Reproducibility and validity of a postal questionnaire. The abdominal symptom study.
OBJECTIVE
To find out whether it is possible to examine abdominal/gastrointestinal symptoms by a postal questionnaire.


METHODS
In the Abdominal Symptom Study a postal questionnaire was sent to a representative sample of adults (n = 1290) on two occasions, one year apart. The questionnaire was sent a third time to a subsample (n = 110), and to another sample (n = 213) who had not seen the questionnaire before. A subsample (n = 150 of the 1290) was subjected to a medical interview and examination.


METHODS
The municipality of Osthammar, Sweden.


METHODS
A sample (9.3%) of all Swedish citizens (20-79 yrs) in the municipality.


METHODS
Reproducibility and validity of a postal questionnaire.


RESULTS
The response rate was 90%. Roughly 50% of the study population reported abdominal symptoms. The reproducibility of the results was satisfactory, as was the validity of the questionnaire evaluated by medical interview and examination. Non-responders did not report more symptoms than responders.


CONCLUSIONS
It is possible to examine abdominal/gastrointestinal symptoms with a postal questionnaire. The questionnaire used in The Abdominal Symptom Study seems to be useful for this purpose.
Agréus
L
L
Uppsala University, Department of Family Medicine, Sweden.
Svärdsudd
K
K
Nyrén
O
O
Tibblin
G
G
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking; D010808:Physical Examination; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology