4269.0: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - Board 5

Abstract #25201

Assessing follow-up methods in a questionnaire-based study

Jason Witter, BA, Noell Stone, MPH, Robyn Viera, and Richard Hoffman, MD, MPH. University of New Mexico, 505-272-1423, pantera@unm.edu

The Prostate Cancer Outcomes Study (PCOS) was initiated by the National Cancer Institute in 1994 to measure practice patterns and health-related quality of life among men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the US. The study consisted of mailed questionnaires, combined with extensive medical record reviews, to document variations in practice patterns and complications due to prostate cancer treatment. This poster will evaluate the cost-effectiveness and overall results of follow-up in a mail-out questionnaire-based study. The data will be drawn from the New Mexico site based out of the University of New Mexico Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Control. Five-year follow-up surveys were sent to both case (n=296) and control (n=619) subjects. Follow-up calling was done by trained interviewers if a questionnaire was not returned within two weeks of being mailed. In addition, edit calling was done in order to obtain missing information from returned questionnaires. We will describe these and other follow-up procedures and evaluate the overall follow-up success among different ethnic groups, age ranges and urban vs. rural subjects. This information will help to provide a better estimate of the time, resources and personnel necessary for follow-up in similar questionnaire-based studies.

Learning Objectives: N/A

Keywords: Public Health Research, Surveillance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA