Randomized trial within a trial of yellow ‘post‐it notes’ did not improve questionnaire response rates among participants in a trial of treatments for neck pain

Tilbrook, Helen; Becque, Taeko; Buckley, Hannah; MacPherson, Hugh; Bailey, Mathew; Torgerson, David

doi:10.1111/jep.12284

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…A single embedded trial will often not have the statistical power to detect a modest difference if there truly was one present; therefore, we have a strategy of repeating our SWATs in order to conduct meta-analyses to strengthen the evidence base. With respect to newsletters sent prior to questionnaires, our previous trial showed a small absolute difference in favour of the intervention, which was borderline statistically significant (p=0.05) 5 , whereas our two previous studies of Post-it® notes 7, 8 produced identical, non-statistically significant ORs (0.97) favouring the control group (no Post-it® note).…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 59%

A study update newsletter or Post-it® note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial: an embedded randomised factorial trial

et al. 2019

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Background: Participants not returning data collection questionnaires is a problem for many randomised controlled trials. The resultant loss of data leads to a reduction in statistical power and can result in bias. The aim of this study was to assess whether the use of a study update newsletter and/or a handwritten or printed Post-it® note sticker increased postal questionnaire response rates for participants of a randomised controlled trial. Method: This study was a factorial trial embedded within a host trial of a falls-prevention intervention among men and women aged ≥65 years under podiatric care. Participants were randomised into one of six groups: newsletter plus handwritten Post-it®; newsletter plus printed Post-it®; newsletter only; handwritten Post-it® only; printed Post-it® only; or no newsletter or Post-it®. The results were combined with those from previous embedded randomised controlled trials in meta-analyses. Results: The overall 12-month response rate was 803/826 (97.2%) (newsletter 95.1%, no newsletter 99.3%, printed Post-it® 97.5%, handwritten Post-it® 97.1%, no Post-it® 97.1%). The study update newsletter had a detrimental effect on response rates (adjusted odds ratio 0.14, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.48, p<0.01) and time to return the questionnaire (adjusted hazard ratio 0.86, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.99, p=0.04). No other statistically significant differences were observed between the intervention groups on response rates, time to response, and the need for a reminder. Conclusions: Post-it® notes have been shown to be ineffective in three embedded trials, whereas the evidence for newsletter reminders is still uncertain.

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Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 59%

A study update newsletter or Post-it® note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial: an embedded randomised factorial trial

et al. 2019

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“…The evidence for an improvement in response rates in questionnaire studies has to date had mixed results, with response rates in students showing a significant improvement and a study in a health care setting showing no improvement . Our trial, a ‘trial within trials’ found no significant difference in response rates between the use of a Post‐it® note or control for the 4 month follow‐up questionnaires for older aged people with depressive symptoms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…The findings of this ‘trial within trials’ study supports the evidence from Tilbrook et al . who also found no significant effects of improvement in response rates using a Post‐it® note intervention in a healthcare research setting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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An randomized controlled trial of Post‐it® notes did not increase postal response rates in older depressed participants

Lewis

Keding

Bosanquet

et al. 2016

Evaluation Clinical Practice

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Rationale, aims and objectives Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of a Post-it® note to increase response rates and shorten response times to a 4-month postal follow-up questionnaire sent to participants taking part in the Collaborative Care in Screen-Positive Elders (CASPER) trials. Method Our trial was a two-arm randomized controlled trial comparing response rates to questionnaires with a printed Post-it® note (intervention) and without (control), nested in multi centred randomized controlled trials of older people with varying levels of depressive symptoms; the CASPER + and CASPER Self Help for those At Risk of Depression (SHARD) trials. A total of 611 participants were eligible and randomized. The primary outcome was response rates, secondary outcomes were time to response and need for a reminder. Results Of 297 participants, 266 (89.6%) returned their 4-month questionnaire in the post-it note arm, compared with 282 of 314 participants (89.8%) in the control arm (OR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.57, 1.65, P = 0.913). There were no statistically significant differences in time to respond or the need to be sent a reminder. Patients with a major depressive episode were more likely to return questionnaires with post-it notes (P of interaction = .019). Conclusion There was no significant difference in response rates, time to response, or the need for a reminder between the intervention and control at 4-month follow up for older people with depressive symptoms. However, there was a significant interaction between the Post-it® note group and level of depression.

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“…We have so far found that electronic reminders are effective, [10] newsletters to trial participants are promising (one trial showing effectiveness, another in progress), [11] and sticky notes may be ineffective (one small trial showing no effect with others in progress). [12] For recruitment, we have tested or are testing different designs of patient information sheets, publicity, prerecruitment notification, envelope colour, and additional centre visits by a trial coordinator.…”

Section: Trials Within Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Producing better evidence on how to improve randomised controlled trials

Adamson

Hewitt

Torgerson

2015

BMJ

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Randomized trial within a trial of yellow ‘post‐it notes’ did not improve questionnaire response rates among participants in a trial of treatments for neck pain

Abstract: Yellow post-it notes do not enhance questionnaire return rates for participants in a randomized trial of neck pain.

Cited by 7 publications

References 4 publications

A study update newsletter or Post-it® note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial: an embedded randomised factorial trial

A study update newsletter or Post-it® note did not increase postal questionnaire response rates in a falls prevention trial: an embedded randomised factorial trial

An randomized controlled trial of Post‐it® notes did not increase postal response rates in older depressed participants

Producing better evidence on how to improve randomised controlled trials

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