title: A randomized trial of the total design method for the postal follow-up of women in a cancer prevention trial.
abstract: Mail surveys have been used to follow-up early participants in a Canadian breast cancer prevention trial. To minimize non-response bias, we undertook a randomized study of two postal strategies, of which one was our usual procedure and the other was a systematic application, known as the total design method (TDM) and described by Dillman. The response rates to the two methods were 62 and 88% respectively. The TDM is a practical, cost-efficient approach to reducing non-response bias in postal surveys and as such has an important role in epidemiological research which involves healthy participants.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Statistics, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Sutherland
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beaton
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mazer
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kriukov
authors.forename: N F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Boyd
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010865:Pilot Projects