Who responds? An examination of response rates to a national postal survey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, 2018-2019

Date

2020

Authors

Wright, Alyson
Thurber, Katherine
Yap, Mandy
Du, Wei
Banks, Emily
Walker, Jennie
Irwin, Faye
Sanders, William
Lovett, Raymond

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

BioMed Central

Abstract

Background Evidence on the effectiveness of postal recruitment methods for Indigenous peoples is lacking. Mayi Kuwayu, the National Study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing, uses multi-staged sampling. We aimed to test postal surveys as a primary recruitment method, analysing preliminary response rate data to inform the Study’s ongoing sampling approach. Methods Twenty thousand adults aged ≥16 years were sampled from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people enrolled in the Medicare Australia Enrolment Database. We calculated response rates at 4 and 15 weeks, overall and by age group, gender, state/territory and remoteness. Results The overall response rate was 2.3% (n = 456/20000). Highest response rates were observed among males and females ≥50 years from major cities (6.0, 95%CI 4.4–7.9 and 5.5%, 4.1–7.2, respectively) and regional areas (6.0%, 4.6–7.6 and 6.2%, 4.9–7.7, respectively). Younger age groups and remote areas had lower response rates; all remote age groups < 50 years had a response rate ≤ 0.6%. While most participants responded on the paper surveys, online responses were more common among younger age groups and, respondents with higher education levels and whose first language was not English. Conclusion Using a postal survey, we observed response rates of ≥5.5% among older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults in major cities and regional areas; response rates were lower in other groups. A two-stage postal distribution approach provided an opportunity to adapt sampling approaches to different demographic groups. Based on initial response rates, the sampling strategy was revised to send postal surveys to groups with higher response rates groups and focus field recruitment strategies on low response groups.on low response groups.

Description

Keywords

Indigenous, cohort,, recruitment, postal surveys, response rates, Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander

Citation

Source

BMC Medical Research Methodology

Type

Journal article

Book Title

Entity type

Access Statement

Open Access

License Rights

Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)

Restricted until

Back to topicon-arrow-up-solid
 
APRU
IARU
 
edX
Group of Eight Member

Acknowledgement of Country

The Australian National University acknowledges, celebrates and pays our respects to the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people of the Canberra region and to all First Nations Australians on whose traditional lands we meet and work, and whose cultures are among the oldest continuing cultures in human history.


Contact ANUCopyrightDisclaimerPrivacyFreedom of Information

+61 2 6125 5111 The Australian National University, Canberra

TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C ABN: 52 234 063 906