The Effects of Pencil-and-Paper and Web-Based Questionnaires on Clinical Research: Using UDI-6, IIQ-7, and PISQ-12 as Examples

Abstract

Web-based surveys are frequently applied in clinical research. In this study, hospital patients were requested to complete web-based and traditional hand written questionnaires. The t test and intraclass correlation coefficients were used to compare the results of the web-based and traditional hand written questionnaires. The survey results of 81 participants showed no significant score differences between the web-based and traditional hand written questionnaires.The 81 participants did not show any preference for either web-based or pencil-and-paper based surveys, and the statistical results showed no significant difference between the two types of survey. Therefore, this study suggested using webbased questionnaires instead of pencil-and-paper based questionnaires, because using web-based questionnaires can decrease doctor consultation time, reduce labor costs, provide patients with remote self-assessment services prior to a clinic visit and adequately collect questionnaires to enhance research capability. Furthermore, this type of questionnaire survey enables patients to answer personal questions honestly.Keywords: Incontinence impact questionnaire-7 (IIQ-7), Pelvic organ prolapse/urinary incontinence sexual function questionnaire-12 (PISQ-12), Pencil-and-paper questionnaire, Urinary distress inventory-6 (UDI-6), Urinary incontinence, Web-based questionnaire.