Nonresponse Bias in a General Population Survey of Eating-Disordered Behaviour
Date
2004
Authors
Mond, Jonathan
Hay, Phillipa J
Owen, Cathy
Beumont, Pierre J V
Rodgers, Bryan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley-VCH Verlag GMBH
Abstract
Objective: To investigate nonresponse bias in a two-phase epidemiologic study of eating-disordered behavior. Method: Self-report questionnaires were delivered to a community sample of women aged 18-45 drawn from the electoral roll. Follow-up interviews were completed with a subgroup of respondents. Eating disorder psychopathology, general physical and mental health, and sociodemographic characteristics were compared among early (n = 259) and late (n = 71) respondents at the first phase of the study and among individuals with whom interviews were completed (n = 208) and individuals declining to be interviewed (n = 63) at the second phase. Results: With respect to levels of eating disorder psychopathology, and on all other measures, individuals who responded at the first phase of the study only after repeated reminders did not differ from those who responded to the initial mailout, and individuals who declined to be interviewed did not differ from individuals with whom interviews were completed. Conclusions: Nonresponse bias among individuals declining to be interviewed is unlikely to pose a problem in two-phase epidemiologic studies of eating disorders. Further research is needed to examine the characteristics of nonrespondents at the first phase of such studies.
Description
Keywords
Keywords: adult; article; demography; eating disorder; epidemiological data; feeding behavior; female; health survey; human; interview; major clinical study; mental disease; mental health; population research; priority journal; questionnaire; self report; Adolescen Eating disorders; Epidemiologic research; Nonresponse bias; Two-phase design
Citation
Collections
Source
International Journal of Eating Disorders
Type
Journal article