Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Apr 21, 2020
Date Accepted: Jun 25, 2020
Date Submitted to PubMed: Jul 14, 2020
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Sociodemographic representativeness in a nationwide web based survey of men’s view on involvement in health care decision making
ABSTRACT
Background:
Being able to generalize research findings to a broader population outside of the study sample is an important goal in surveys on the internet. We conducted a nationwide web-based survey with vignettes illustrating different levels of patient involvement to investigate men’s preferences regarding participation in health care decision-making. Following randomization into vignette variants, we distributed the survey among men aged 45-70 years through the state authorized digital mailbox provided by the Danish authorities for secure communication with citizens.
Objective:
This study aimed to investigate the sociodemographic representativeness of our sample of men obtained in a nationwide web based survey using digital mailbox.
Methods:
Response rate estimates were established and comparisons were made between respondents and non-respondents in terms of age profiles (e.g. average age) and municipality level information on sociodemographic characteristics.
Results:
Among 22,288 men invited during two waves, a total of 6,756 (30.3%) participants responded to the survey. In adjusted analyses, respondent characteristics mostly resembled those of non-respondents. Response rates, however, were significantly higher in older men (OR 2.83 for response among those aged 65-70 compared to those aged 45-49 years, 95% CI: 2.58, 3.11; P < .001) and in rural areas (OR 1.10 compared to urban area, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.18; P = .005). Furthermore, response rates appeared lower in areas with higher tax base (OR in highest tertile .89, 95% CI: 0.81, 0.98; P = .023).
Conclusions:
Overall, the general population of men aged 45-70 years was represented very well by the responders to our web-based survey. However, the imbalances identified highlight the importance of supplementing survey findings with studies of the representativeness regarding other characteristics of the sample like trait and preference features, so that proper statistical corrections can be made in upcoming analyses of survey responses whenever needed. Clinical Trial: NA
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