title: Administer and collect medical questionnaires with Google documents: a simple, safe, and free system.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Questionnaires are an invaluable resource for clinical trials. They serve to estimate disease burden and clinical parameters associated with a particular study. However, current researchers are tackling budget constraints, loss of funding opportunities, and rise of research associated fees. We aimed at exploring alternative avenues taking advantage of the free Google docs software for questionnaire administration. This presents an opportunity to reduce costs while simultaneously increasing efficiency and data fidelity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Google documents were used as a platform to create online questionnaires that were automatically hosted via a unique URL. Password protected access to the URL link and a unique study ID gave patients around the clock access from anywhere in the world. Unique study ID ensured confidentially of all self-reported data. Patient responses were secured using a "Cloud" database where the data was automatically sorted, scaled and scored by custom Excel formulas. Researchers downloaded real-time questionnaire responses in multiple formats (e.g. excel) which was then analyzed with a statistical software of choice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This simple workflow provided instant questionnaire scores that eliminated the use for paper-based responses and subsequent manual entry of data. Ease of access to online questionnaires provided convenience to patients leading to better response rates and increase in data fidelity. The system also allowed for real time monitoring of patient's progress on completing questionnaires. Online questionnaires had 100% completion rate compared to paper-based questionnaires.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Google docs can serve as an efficient and free platform to administer questionnaires to a clinical population without sacrificing quality, security, and fidelity of data.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy; Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center Room 3004F, 3rd Floor PHC Building, 3800 Reservoir Road, NW Washington, DC 20007-2197.
authors.forename: Rakib U
authors.initials: RU
authors.lastname: Rayhan
authors.affiliation: University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine. 12901 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard MDC 32. Tampa, FL 33612-4799.
authors.forename: Yin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy; Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center Room 3004F, 3rd Floor PHC Building, 3800 Reservoir Road, NW Washington, DC 20007-2197.
authors.forename: Ebsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Uddin
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy; Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center Room 3004F, 3rd Floor PHC Building, 3800 Reservoir Road, NW Washington, DC 20007-2197.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Timbol
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy; Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center Room 3004F, 3rd Floor PHC Building, 3800 Reservoir Road, NW Washington, DC 20007-2197.
authors.forename: Oluwatoyin
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Adewuyi
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy; Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center Room 3004F, 3rd Floor PHC Building, 3800 Reservoir Road, NW Washington, DC 20007-2197.
authors.forename: James N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Baraniuk
keywords: Applied Informatics; Clinical outcomes; Google Docs; Online Questionnaires; Research Study