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Feasibility of comparing risk profiles for cervical cancer between participants and nonparticipants in a screening programme

1994; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 12; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3109/02813439409003700

1502-7724

Agnes Kant, Ineke Palm, Henk van den Hoogen, Chris van Weel,

Global Cancer Incidence and Screening

Objective — Feasibility of comparing risk profiles by questionnaire of participants and nonparticipants in a cervical screening programme:- does asking information on sexual behaviour by means of a questionnaire lead to high non-response?- is the non-response selective (related to participation in the screening) and if so how can we limit this?Design -A postal survey on risk factors for cervical cancer, including sexual behaviour, in a group of participants and nonparticipants.Setting — Two villages, Wijchen and Beuningen, situated near Nijmegen in The Netherlands.Subjects — 139 participants and 99 nonparticipants in the national screening programme in 1989 or 1990.Results — Overall, the response to the questionnaire was high: 83%. Collecting the questionnaire by asking the women to return it by mail in a stamped addressed envelope and one reminder by phone showed a response rate of 79%. This response was selective: 93% of the participants in the screening responded and 61% of the nonparticipants. Collecting them personally showed an extremely high response of 96% which was not selective.Main Conclusion — Obtaining information on sexual behaviour by questionnaire is feasible.- Selective response can be limited by an extremely high response rate, which can be achieved by collecting the questionnaires personally.