Skip Navigation



American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published online on October 13, 2006
American Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/aje/kwj349
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Table
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
164/12/1141    most recent
kwj349v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Schilling, L. M.
Right arrow Articles by Dellavalle, R. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Schilling, L. M.
Right arrow Articles by Dellavalle, R. P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology Copyright © 2006 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health All rights reserved; printed in U.S.A.
Received March 14, 2006
Accepted July 5, 2006

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Inaccessible Novel Questionnaires in Published Medical Research: Hidden Methods, Hidden Costs

Lisa M. Schilling 1 *, Katarzyna Kozak 2, Kristy Lundahl 3, and Robert P. Dellavalle 4

1 Department of Medicine, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO
2 University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO
3 Department of Dermatology, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO
4 Department of Dermatology, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO; Department of Dermatology, Department of Veteran's Affairs, Denver, CO

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Lisa M. Schilling, E-mail: lisa.schilling{at}uchsc.edu


  Abstract

Although critical analysis of survey research is limited when reviewers and readers cannot view a study's questionnaire, access to novel questionnaires used in published research has not been systematically examined. The authors identified publications reporting the results of novel questionnaires in three medical journals (JAMA, The New England Journal of Medicine, and The Lancet) in January 2000-May 2003 and searched portable document format (PDF) versions of the studies for the complete questionnaire or a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) providing access to the questionnaire. When the questionnaire was not provided in the publication or a published URL, the authors requested it from the corresponding author in writing up to three times over a 6-week period. Of 93 publications with novel questionnaires, four printed the questionnaire in the article and three provided online access. Corresponding authors failed to provide questionnaires for 37 of 81 (46%) studies. Novel questionnaires used in published research are frequently not available to readers or researchers. Policies that improve access to novel questionnaires will allow better assessment of study results, reduce duplicated efforts, and improve authorship attribution for questionnaire design.

Keywords: data collection; methods; peer review; questionnaires; research design.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 CMAJHome page
K. E.A. Burns MD MSc, M. Duffett BScPharm, M. E. Kho PT MSc, M. O. Meade MD MSc, N. K.J. Adhikari MDCM MSc, T. Sinuff MD PhD, D. J. Cook MD MSc, and for the ACCADEMY Group
A guide for the design and conduct of self-administered surveys of clinicians
Can. Med. Assoc. J., July 29, 2008; 179(3): 245 - 252.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Clin. Nutr.Home page
H. K Neilson, P. J Robson, C. M Friedenreich, and I. Csizmadi
Estimating activity energy expenditure: how valid are physical activity questionnaires?
Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, February 1, 2008; 87(2): 279 - 291.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am J EpidemiolHome page
T. Rosen and J. Olsen
Invited Commentary: The Art of Making Questionnaires Better
Am. J. Epidemiol., December 15, 2006; 164(12): 1145 - 1149.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.