Résumé :
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[BDSP. Notice produite par INIST-CNRS ljR0x7r8. Diffusion soumise à autorisation]. Knowledge on effective strategies to encourage participation in epidemiological web-based research is scant. We studied the effects of reminders on overall participation. 3,876 employees were e-mailed a baseline web-based lifestyle questionnaire. Nine months later, a follow-up questionnaire was sent. To encourage study participation, 4-5 and 11 e-mail reminders were sent at baseline and follow-up, respectively. Additional reminders (media articles, flyers, SMS etc) were also administered. Reminders (e-mails+additional) were given in low (9 reminders). Participation was examined with respect to participant characteristics (i.e. age, sex, Body Mass Index, occupation), type/number of reminders, and time of participation. Most participants were males, 35-49 years, and field workers (non-office based). About 29% responded before any e-mail reminder, following 26 and 45% after 1 respective>=2 e-mail reminders. Participant characteristics were not related to when the participants responded. The 4-5 e-mail reminders increased total response rate by 15%, the eleven by 21% (greatest increases in September). Those receiving medium amounts of reminders (reference) had the highest response rate (75%), likewise office workers (54%) compared to field workers (33%). High amounts of reminders were particularly effective on office workers. The participants'characteristics were not related to when they responded in this web-based study. Frequent reminders were effective on response rates, especially for those with high Internet availability. The highest increases in response rates were found in September.
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