Changing layout of questionnaires increases response rates

EDITOR—The systematic review by Edwards et al is helpful to those of us who routinely design and use questionnaires in our research.1 One area not covered by the review, which is important, is the quality of the response.

Response rates are clearly important, but the quality of the responses is also important in that returned questionnaires with some questions either missing or incorrectly filled in will have the same effect as a poor response. In a pilot study of questionnaires for a trial among people with venous ulcers one of us (CPI) noticed that many items on the SF12 were either missed or incorrectly completed. The questions that were missed were …