title: Women in an infertility survey responded more by mail but preferred a choice: randomized controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate three modes of questionnaire completion (online, mail, and telephone) and a choice group for a questionnaire survey with a sensitive topic.
  
  
  METHODS
  A randomized trial of alternative completion methods (online, paper [mail], telephonic interview, and a choice of the three modes) for a survey about fertility problems embedded within a population-based cross-sectional survey of reproduction among women living in England and Wales.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From an initial cohort of 21,036 women who were sent a screening questionnaire, 4,559 responded. A total of 699 women reported fertility problems, of whom 593 (85%) agreed to participate. A total of 521 (75%) of the 699 women then completed the survey. Compared with the "mail" arm, those allocated to telephonic interview were less likely to agree to participate initially (odds ratio [OR], 0.41; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.22, 0.74) but were ultimately more likely to complete the questionnaire (OR, 2.20; 95% CI: 1.01, 4.80). Overall, those allocated to the choice arm were most likely to go through to completion (80% vs. 77% mail, 72% telephone, and 68% online groups). In the choice arm, women showed a clear preference for mail (59% vs. 37% choosing online and 3% telephonic response).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Online surveys are a viable alternative to mailed questionnaires but were not as popular as mail in this study population. Response can possibly be increased by offering women a choice of response modes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK. melanie.morris@lshtm.ac.uk
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Phil
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Pat
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.forename: Noreen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maconochie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D034742:Electronic Mail / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014852:Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult