title: Pre-notification letter type and response rate to a postal survey among women who have recently given birth.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Surveys are commonly used in health research to assess patient satisfaction with hospital care. Achieving an adequate response rate, in the face of declining trends over time, threatens the quality and reliability of survey results. This paper evaluates a strategy to increase the response rate in a postal satisfaction survey with women who had recently given birth.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 2048 Australian women who had recently given birth at seven maternity units in New South Wales were invited to participate in a postal survey about their recent experiences with maternity care. The study design included a randomised controlled trial that tested two types of pre-notification letter (with or without the option of opting out of the survey). The study also explored the acceptability of a request for consent to link survey data with existing routinely collected health data (omitting the latter data items from the survey reduced survey length and participant burden). This consent was requested of all women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The survey had an overall response rate of 46% (913 completed surveys returned, total sample 1989). Women receiving the pre-notification letter with the option of opting out of the survey were more likely to actively decline to participate than women receiving the letter without this option, although the overall numbers of women declining were small (27 versus 12). Letter type was not significantly associated with the return of a completed survey. Among women who completed the survey, 97% gave consent to link their survey data with existing health data.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The two types of pre-notification letters used in our study did not influence the survey response rate. However, seeking consent for record linkage was highly acceptable to women who completed the survey, and represents an important strategy to add to the arsenal for designing and implementing effective surveys. In addition to aspects of survey design, future research should explore how to more effectively influence personal constructs that contribute to the decision to participate in surveys.
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Population Perinatal Health Research, Kolling Institute, University of Sydney, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, New South Wales, 2065, Australia. angela.todd@sydney.edu.au.|Sydney Medical School Northern, University of Sydney, St Leonards, New South Wales, 2065, Australia. angela.todd@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Angela L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Population Perinatal Health Research, Kolling Institute, University of Sydney, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, New South Wales, 2065, Australia. maree.porter@sydney.edu.au.|Sydney Medical School Northern, University of Sydney, St Leonards, New South Wales, 2065, Australia. maree.porter@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Maree
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Population Perinatal Health Research, Kolling Institute, University of Sydney, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, New South Wales, 2065, Australia. jennifer.williamson@doh.health.nsw.gov.au.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Population Perinatal Health Research, Kolling Institute, University of Sydney, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, New South Wales, 2065, Australia. jillian.patterson@sydney.edu.au.|Sydney Medical School Northern, University of Sydney, St Leonards, New South Wales, 2065, Australia. jillian.patterson@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jillian A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Population Perinatal Health Research, Kolling Institute, University of Sydney, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, New South Wales, 2065, Australia. clroberts@med.usyd.edu.au.|Sydney Medical School Northern, University of Sydney, St Leonards, New South Wales, 2065, Australia. clroberts@med.usyd.edu.au.
authors.forename: Christine L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Roberts
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009517:New South Wales; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011177:Postal Service; D049590:Postpartum Period; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires