Higher number of items associated with significantly lower response rates in COS Delphi surveys

Maximising response rates in household telephone surveys

BACKGROUND Epidemiological and other studies that require participants to respond by completing a questionnaire face the growing threat of non-response. Response rates to household telephone surveys are diminishing because of changes in telecommunications, marketing and culture. Accordingly, updated information is required about the rate of telephone listing in directories and optimal strategie...

Higher awareness may lower the odds of retained surgical items.

Absence of myotonic dystrophy in southern African Negroids is associated with a significantly lower number of CTG trinucleotide repeats.

Myotonic dystrophy (DM) is associated with an increased number of CTG repeats in the 3' untranslated region of the myotonin gene. Because DM has not been observed in southern African Negroids, a study of the CTG repeat polymorphism in this population was undertake. A total of 210 unrelated subjects was studied by PCR analysis of the trinucleotide repeat in the DM gene and the size and distribut...

Surveys with Negative Questions for Sensitive Items

This paper proposes a strategy for administering a survey that is mindful of sensitive data and individual privacy. The survey seeks to estimate the population proportion of a sensitive variable and does not depend on anonymity, cryptography, or in legal guarantees for its privacy preserving properties. Our technique presents interviewees with a question and t possible answers, and asks partici...

Lower provider volume is associated with higher failure rates for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

BACKGROUND Among physicians who perform endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), the relationship between procedure volume and outcome is unknown. OBJECTIVE Quantify the ERCP volume-outcome relationship by measuring provider-specific failure rates, hospitalization rates, and other quality measures. RESEARCH DESIGN Retrospective cohort. SUBJECTS A total of 16,968 ERCPs perfor...