ZusammenfassungIn recent years, the problem of decreasing response in population-based research has received considerable attention (e.g., 1, 2-5) and although its implications are still a matter of debate (e.g., 6, 7-11), there seems to be a consensus that a higher response is generally preferable (e.g., 5, 10). To increase the response to invitations for the GEFU questionnaire within the German National Cohort (GNC, German: NAKO Gesundheitsstudie; 12), an informational flyer was designed to be sent out with the invitations. In this randomized trial, we investigated the effects of this informational flyer on response proportion and reaction time (i.e., the time until persons respond to the invitation). 1. Galea S, Tracy M. Participation rates in epidemiologic studies. Ann Epidemiol 2007;17(9):643-53. 2. Groves RM. Nonresponse Rates and Nonresponse Bias in Household Surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly 2006;70(5):646-75. 3. La Verda N, Teta MJ. Re: "Reporting participation in epidemiologic studies: a survey of practice". Am J Epidemiol 2006;164(3):292. 4. Morton LM, Cahill J, Hartge P. Reporting participation in epidemiologic studies: a survey of practice. Am J Epidemiol 2006;163(3):197-203. 5. Stang A. Nonresponse research--an underdeveloped field in epidemiology. Eur J Epidemiol 2003;18(10):929-31. 6. Jöckel KH, Stang A. Cohort studies with low baseline response may not be generalisable to populations with different exposure distributions. Eur J Epidemiol 2013;28(3):223-7. 7. Rothman KJ, Gallacher JE, Hatch EE. Why representativeness should be avoided. Int J Epidemiol 2013;42(4):1012-4. 8. Stang A, Jöckel KH. Studies with low Response Proportions may be less biased than Studies with high Response Proportions. American Journal of Epidemiology 2004;159(2):204-10. 9. Groves RM, Couper MP, Presser S, et al. Experiments in Producing Nonresponse Bias. Public Opinion Quarterly 2006;70(5):720-36. 10. Lacey JV, Jr., Savage KE. 50 % Response rates: half-empty, or half-full? Cancer Causes Control 2016;27(6):805-8. 11. Nohr EA, Frydenberg M, Henriksen TB, et al. Does low participation in cohort studies induce bias? Epidemiology 2006;17(4):413-8. 12. German National Cohort C. The German National Cohort: Aims, Study Design and Organization. Eur J Epidemiol 2014;29(5):371-82.

Schlüsselwörter-

EinrichtungenLeibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, Leibniz - Institut für Präventionsforschung und Epidemiologie - BIPS GmbH, Leibniz-Institut für Präventionsforschung und Epidemiologie - BIPS