Designing, Conducting, and Reporting Survey Studies: A Primer for Researchers

Zimba Olena,Gasparyan Armen Yuri 대한의학회 2023 Journal of Korean medical science Vol.38 No.48

Survey studies have become instrumental in contributing to the evidence accumulation in rapidly developing medical disciplines such as medical education, public health, and nursing. The global medical community has seen an upsurge of surveys covering the experience and perceptions of health specialists, patients, and public representatives in the peri-pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 period. Currently, surveys can play a central role in increasing research activities in non-mainstream science countries where limited research funding and other barriers hinder science growth. Planning surveys starts with overviewing related reviews and other publications which may help to design questionnaires with comprehensive coverage of all related points. The validity and reliability of questionnaires rely on input from experts and potential responders who may suggest pertinent revisions to prepare forms with attractive designs, easily understandable questions, and correctly ordered points that appeal to target respondents. Currently available numerous online platforms such as Google Forms and Survey Monkey enable moderating online surveys and collecting responses from a large number of responders. Online surveys benefit from disseminating questionnaires via social media and other online platforms which facilitate the survey internationalization and participation of large groups of responders. Survey reporting can be arranged in line with related recommendations and reporting standards all of which have their strengths and limitations. The current article overviews available recommendations and presents pointers on designing, conducting, and reporting surveys.

Readability assessment of commonly used urological questionnaires

Patrick Betschart,Dominik Abt,Hans-Peter Schmid,Pascal Viktorin,Janine Langenauer,Valentin Zumstein 대한비뇨의학회 2018 Investigative and Clinical Urology Vol.59 No.5

Purpose: This study was performed to assess readability of the most commonly used questionnaires in urology including a separate analysis of their single-items to identify questions that might be especially demanding for patients. Materials and Methods: The guidelines of the European Association of Urology were screened for recommended questionnaires. Readability was analyzed for complete questionnaires as well as their single-items separately using well established readability assessment tools, including Flesch-Kincaid grade level (FKGL), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook grade level (SMOG), Coleman-Liau Index (CLI), Gunning-Fog Index, and the Flesch Reading Ease formula. Results: A total of 13 questionnaires were included to the analysis. Calculation of grade levels (FKGL, SMOG, CLI, FGI) showed readability scores of 2.7th to 16.7th grade. Easiest readability as calculated by median grade levels was found for the short form of the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaires-Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms short form (FLUTS-SF) while the short form of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) showed the hardest readability. Based on the FKGL between 0% (FLUTS-SF) and 80% (IIEF-5) of the single-items were written above the recommended grade levels. Conclusions: The questionnaires that are used most frequently in urology mainly show a satisfactory overall readability. Inadequate readability levels were not only found for individual questionnaires but also for single-items of the majority of assessed questionnaires. This requires consideration for the interpretation of results and when developing novel health-related surveys.

전라남도 난임 여성 한방치료 지원 사업에 참여한 한의사를 대상으로 한 설문 연구

김수현,이은규,최유진,박경미,조성희,양승정 대한한방부인과학회 2019 大韓韓方婦人科學會誌 Vol.32 No.2

Objectives: The research is aimed at identifying the necessity of the support project of Korean medical treatment in infertility by analyzing the outcome of those subject and providing data for Korean medical treatment in infertility by analyzing the medical treatment of Korean medical doctors involved in the project. Methods: 98 patients who participated in the support project of Korean medical treatment in infertility in Jeollanamdo and 57 Korean medical doctors who participated as therapists were surveyed. Patients were given four months of treatment at local Korean medical clinics. After the treatment was completed, we analyzed the characteristics of the patients' group. And we sent questionnaires to doctors to answer the message. The content of the questionnaire consisted of infertility treatments, a wish for support project. These data were analyzed by frequency and t-test. Results: Analysis of the answer to the questionnaire obtained data on Korean medical treatment in infertility. The most desired thing for future support program was the introduction of husband and wife care. Conclusions: This survey by Korean medical doctors gave us reference data for Korean medical treatment in infertility and the direction in which therapy business should proceed. Objectives: The research is aimed at identifying the necessity of the support project of Korean medical treatment in infertility by analyzing the outcome of those subject and providing data for Korean medical treatment in infertility by analyzing the medical treatment of Korean medical doctors involved in the project. Methods: 98 patients who participated in the support project of Korean medical treatment in infertility in Jeollanamdo and 57 Korean medical doctors who participated as therapists were surveyed. Patients were given four months of treatment at local Korean medical clinics. After the treatment was completed, we analyzed the characteristics of the patients' group. And we sent questionnaires to doctors to answer the message. The content of the questionnaire consisted of infertility treatments, a wish for support project. These data were analyzed by frequency and t-test. Results: Analysis of the answer to the questionnaire obtained data on Korean medical treatment in infertility. The most desired thing for future support program was the introduction of husband and wife care. Conclusions: This survey by Korean medical doctors gave us reference data for Korean medical treatment in infertility and the direction in which therapy business should proceed.

Reporting Survey Based Studies – a Primer for Authors

Prithvi Sanjeevkumar Gaur,Olena Zimba,Vikas Agarwal,Latika Gupta 대한의학회 2020 Journal of Korean medical science Vol.35 No.45

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a massive rise in survey-based research. The paucity of perspicuous guidelines for conducting surveys may pose a challenge to the conduct of ethical, valid and meticulous research. The aim of this paper is to guide authors aiming to publish in scholarly journals regarding the methods and means to carry out surveys for valid outcomes. The paper outlines the various aspects, from planning, execution and dissemination of surveys followed by the data analysis and choosing target journals. While providing a comprehensive understanding of the scenarios most conducive to carrying out a survey, the role of ethical approval, survey validation and pilot testing, this brief delves deeper into the survey designs, methods of dissemination, the ways to secure and maintain data anonymity, the various analytical approaches, the reporting techniques and the process of choosing the appropriate journal. Further, the authors analyze retracted survey-based studies and the reasons for the same. This review article intends to guide authors to improve the quality of survey-based research by describing the essential tools and means to do the same with the hope to improve the utility of such studies.

스포츠사회과학 분야 학술지 설문연구와 역번역 사용동향

천버이,한준영 한국체육측정평가학회 2017 한국체육측정평가학회지 Vol.19 No.3

The survey method is one of the most frequently adopted research methods in social sciences of sport for a long time. Influx of survey questionnaires have been developed in different languages, and many domestic researchers have utilized many foreign survey questionnaires after a translation process. Or, researchers tend to use survey questionnaires that were already translated for previous studies that might lose its equivalence at a certain degree. However, many experts in translation have suggested that translating an original survey questionnaire should be a better way for establishing a proper equivalence. Given that, many previous studies have already employed the back translation technique in behavioral and bio-physical sciences. Nonetheless, lack of research as to back translation have been reported in social sciences of sport. Thus, the present study attempted to verify how many social science studies in sport utilized quantitative research methods including survey methods; how many social science studies of sport employed survey questionnaires from either a direct translation, a previously translated from previous literature, or a domestic survey; and, how many of the survey have utilized back translation techniques. So, 4 professional journals in social sciences of sport were selected, and 1,597 published articles of the journals from 2006 to 2016 were analyzed by using descriptive analyses, chi-square tests, and a Kruskal-Wallis test(a=.05). The results indicate that the quantitative method (50.5%) and the survey (41.5%) got less chosen although many research have still frequently utilized them in social sciences of sport. Also, many pre-translated survey questionnaires with modifications from previous literature were employed instead of direct translation from an original survey questionnaire. Lastly, only the 8.6% of the journal articles using survey questionnaires employed the back translation. In conclusion, the present study confirmed that social sciences of study have comparatively less used the back translation, and to establish validity and reliablity of a survey study the back translation should be adopted more. 스포츠사회과학에서 설문연구는 빈번히 사용되는 방법이다. 다수의 설문지는 국외에서 개발되어 직접 번역되거나기 번역된 번역본을 사용하기도 한다. 하지만, 학자들은 원 설문지를 역번역을 통해 번역의 정확성을 기해야한다고지적한다. 이에 일반 사회과학 분야나 행동과학, 자연과학 분야에서는 역번역의 사용이 비교적 다수 보고되고 있으나, 스포츠사회과학 분야에서의 사용 및 사용 동향 보고는 부족하다. 이 연구는 스포츠사회과학에서 양적연구로서설문연구가 최근 어느 정도 활용되는지, 어느 정도의 설문연구들이 국내외의 설문지를 사용하며, 국외 설문지를 번역하는데 역번역을 활용하는지 확인하기 위해, 2006년부터 2011년까지 스포츠사회과학 분야의 네 종류의 주요 학술지에 게재된 1,597편의 논문을 내용분석 하였으며, 기술분석과 카이스퀘어 테스트를 활용하였다. 연구결과는 여전히 양적연구방법(50.5%)과 설문연구(41.5%)가 스포츠사회과학에서 주요한 연구방법으로 채택되고 있지만 그 빈도가 최근 들어 줄어드는 추세이다. 그리고 다수의 기존 설문지를 한 연구에 혼용되며, 번역본 설문지를 통한 연구가많아 번역의 정확성에 대한 의문이 제기된다. 마지막으로, 정확한 설문지 번역을 위해 역번역이 추천되는 방법이나, 최근까지 스포츠사회과학 분야 연구들은 역번역이 낮은 수준(8.6%)으로 활용되고 있음을 이 연구는 지적하며, 향후설문연구에서 역번역의 적극적 사용을 제언한다.

Test-Retest Reliability of a Questionnaire for the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey

배지석,정효지,김종연,권경남,김영택,박순우 대한예방의학회 2010 Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health Vol.43 No.5

Objectives: A web-based survey has been administered annually since 2005 throughout Korea to assess the prevalence of adolescent health risk behaviors among middle and high school students. The aim of this study was to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBWS) questionnaire. Methods: A convenience sample of 2298 middle and high school students participated in self-administered questionnaire surveys twice, approximately two weeks apart, in 2008. The percent agreement, kappa statistics, and prevalence rates at the first and second surveys were computed for the core subset of 39 self-reported health risk behavior indices of the KYRBWS. Results: Among 39 indices, seven indices had kappas ≥ 0.81 and all of the indices had kappas ≥ 0.41. Based on nonoverlapping 95% confidence intervals, three indices had significantly different prevalence rates between the first and second surveys. In the subgroup analyses by school grade and gender, two indices had significantly different reliability estimates between middle and high school students. There were no significantly different reliability estimates between male and female students, except for one index. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the reliability estimates for the KYRBWS questionnaire are varied, but generally reliable over time. The indices with low reliability estimates need to be evaluated further in order to determine whether the indices should be modified or deleted from future versions of the KYRBWS.

국내 종합병원 환자만족도 조사현황 분석

이선희,김지인,조우현,이지전 한국의료QA학회 1998 한국의료질향상학회지 Vol.5 No.1

Background : It increasing the concern for patient satisfaction as a customer information. This study was planned to investigate the activities related to patient satisfaction survey at the Korean hospitals. Methods : We performed the nationwide survey on 235 general hospitals by using the self-administrated checklist from Sep. 9 to Oct. 9, 1996. The response rate were 50.2%. We analyzed the descriptive statistics and chi-square test by SAS software on 118 hospitals. Results : First of all, 62.7% of study hospitals showed to conduct the patient satisfaction survey, and most of hospitals which did not conduct it had a plan to do it within 5 years. The reason that hospitals did not conduct satisfaction survey was due to a lack of administrator's interest or adequate questionnaire form. Second, the bigger, public and being more located in the big city or opened more than 10 years, the more hospitals conducted the patient satisfaction survey. Also, patient satisfaction survey was mainly handled by planning dept. or administrative team. Third, most hospitals had their own way of making questionnaires without proving reliability and validity. The results of the survey were applied to hospital management timely, and were mostly reported to top manager level. Most CEO concerned about the results of satisfaction survey. Fourth, the staffs in charge of survey had problems such as skill related to data analysis and development of questionnaire and they suggested that this problems could be solved through inducing the implementation of the survey results on hospital management, support for the development of standardized questionnaires and increasing the top manager's interests. Fifth, most questionnaires composed of lots of questioning items on hospital equipments and environment, and kindness of hospital employee to patients. Conclusions : Although this study had some limitations in generalization due to low-response rate in big hospitals, it is meaningful to find the present state and the problems related to patient satisfaction survey of the general hospitals. We can conclude that there are increasing the concern for patient satisfaction survey among the hospitals nationwide, and it can be needed for technical support related to development of survey tool or method.

Test-Retest Reliability of a Questionnaire for the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey

Bae, Ji-Suk,Joung, Hyo-Jee,Kim, Jong-Yeon,Kwon, Kyoung-Nam,Kim, Young-Taek,Park, Soon-Woo The Korean Society for Preventive Medicine 2010 Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health Vol.43 No.5

Objectives: A web-based survey has been administered annually since 2005 throughout Korea to assess the prevalence of adolescent health risk behaviors among middle and high school students. The aim of this study was to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBWS) questionnaire. Methods: A convenience sample of 2298 middle and high school students participated in self-administered questionnaire surveys twice, approximately two weeks apart, in 2008. The percent agreement, kappa statistics, and prevalence rates at the first and second surveys were computed for the core subset of 39 self-reported health risk behavior indices of the KYRBWS. Results: Among 39 indices, seven indices had kappas $\geq$ 0.81 and all of the indices had kappas $\geq$ 0.41. Based on nonoverlapping 95% confidence intervals, three indices had significantly different prevalence rates between the first and second surveys. In the subgroup analyses by school grade and gender, two indices had significantly different reliability estimates between middle and high school students. There were no significantly different reliability estimates between male and female students, except for one index. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the reliability estimates for the KYRBWS questionnaire are varied, but generally reliable over time. The indices with low reliability estimates need to be evaluated further in order to determine whether the indices should be modified or deleted from future versions of the KYRBWS.

Validation of Olfactory Questionnaire in Koreans: an Alternative for Conventional Psychophysical Olfactory Tests

Kim Jeong-Whun,Kim Hyo sang,Kim Minju,Kim Su Hwan,Cho Sung-Woo,김진엽 대한의학회 2021 Journal of Korean medical science Vol.36 No.6

Background: The patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a worldwide pandemic infection, frequently complain of olfactory disorders. However, psychophysical olfactory tests performed by an examiner are very difficult in these highly infectious patients. This study aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire for olfactory function that can be readily used to evaluate olfactory loss. Methods: Fourteen smell-related questions were created based on smells familiar to Koreans. Among them, questions with a κ value of 0.6 or higher were finally selected through a test-retest reliability analysis. The correlations between the scores of the olfactory questionnaire and those of olfactory function tests (Butanol Threshold Test [BTT] and Cross Cultural Smell Identification Test [CCSIT]) were analyzed. To evaluate the predictive ability of the questionnaire and elicit cutoff values, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated. Results: Out of the 14 questions in the questionnaire, 11 (κ > 0.6) were selected for the olfactory questionnaire. We analyzed 2,273 subjects, and there was a significant correlation between the total score of the olfactory questionnaire and the BTT (r = 0.643, P < 0.001) or CCSIT (r = 0.615, P < 0.001) scores. ROC curves for the olfactory questionnaire, BTT, and CCSIT all demonstrated high predictive power to discriminate anosmia and severe hyposmia from normosmia. Regarding mild to moderate hyposmia, however, ROC curve for the olfactory questionnaire alone showed high predictive power of discrimination from normosmia. Based on the results of ROC curves among the subclasses, we suggest the classification of the total score of the questionnaire as 0–4, 5–17, 18–27, 28–41, and 42–44, for anosmia, severe hyposmia, moderate hyposmia, mild hyposmia, and normosmia, respectively. Conclusion: The total scores of the questionnaires correlated with the BTT and CCSIT scores. The symptom questionnaire for olfactory dysfunction may be useful as an alternative tool for olfactory function testing, when unavailable.

Usefulness of four commonly used neuropathic pain screening questionnaires in patients with chronic low back pain: a cross-sectional study

( Kapil Gudala ),( Babita Ghai ),( Dipika Bansal ) 대한통증학회 2017 The Korean Journal of Pain Vol.30 No.1

Background: Recently symptoms-based screening questionnaires have gained attention for screening for a neuropathic pain component (NePC) in various chronic pain conditions. The present study assessed the usefulness of four commonly used NePC screening questionnaires including the Self-completed douleur neuropathique 4 (S-DN4), the ID Pain, the painDETECT questionnaire (PDQ), and the Self-completed Leeds Assessment of neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (S-LANSS) questionnaire in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) to assess the presence of NePC. Methods: This is a single-center cross-sectional study where patients with CLBP, with or without leg pain, were included. Participants were initially screened for NePC presence by a physician according to the regular practice, and later assessed using screening questionnaires. The diagnostic accuracy of these questionnaires was compared assuming the physician-made diagnosis as the gold standard. Results: A total of 215 patients with CLBP of which 164 (76.3%, 95% CI, 70.2-81.5) had a NePC were included. S-DN4, ID Pain, and PDQ have an area under the curve (AUC) > 0.8 indicating excellent discrimination. However, S-LANSS has an AUC of 0.69 (0.62-0.75), indicating low discrimination. S-DN4 has a significantly higher AUC as compared to ID Pain (d(AUC) = 0.063, P < 0.01) and S-LANSS (d(AUC) = 0.197, P < 0.01). But the AUC of S-DN4 does not significantly differ from that of PDQ (d(AUC) = 0.013, P = 0.62). Conclusions: S-DN4, ID Pain, and PDQ, but not S-LANSS, have good discriminant validity to screen for NePCs in patients with CLBP. Despite using all the tests, 20-30% of patients with an NePC were missed. Thus, these questionnaires can only be used as an initial clue in screening for NePCs, but do not replace clinical judgment. (Korean J Pain 2017; 30: 51-8)