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American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 144, No. 7: 704-706
Copyright © 1996 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

other

Randomized Trial of Leaving Messages on Telephone Answering Machines for Control Recruitment in an Epidemiologic Study

Thomas D. Koepsell1,2,, Valerie McGuire1, W. T. Longstreth, Jr.1,3, Lorene M. Nelson4 and Gerald van Belle5,6

1Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington Seattle, WA
2Department of Health Services, University of Washington Seattle, WA
3Department of Neurology, University of Washington Seattle, WA
4Department of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University Stanford, CA
5Department of Environmental Health, University of Washington Seattle, WA
6Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington Seattle, WA

Reprint requests to Dr. Thomas Koepsell, Department of Epidemiology, Box 357236, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7236.

To determine whether leaving messages on answering machines would aid control recruitment via random-digit telephone dialing, a randomized trial was conducted during 1992–1994 involving 1,323 western Washington households with answering machines. For the experimental group, a message was left informing them about the study and promising a call-back; for the control group, no message was left. Leaving a message increased the response rate by about 20 percentage points (p = 0.002). More households were successfully screened for eligible controls, and individuals found eligible were more likely to participate. Leaving a message can help to improve response rates in telephone surveys. Am J Epidemiol 1996;144:704–6.

epidemiologic methods; health surveys; telephone


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