Face-to-face interviews versus Internet surveys: Comparison of two data collection methods in the Rome foundation global epidemiology study: Implications for population-based research

Sperber AD 1 , Bor S 2 , Fang X 3 , Bangdiwala SI 4 , Drossman DA 5 , Ghoshal UC 6 Show all authors , Simren M 7 , Tack J 7 , Whitehead WE 8 , Dumitrascu DL 9 , Fukudo S 10 , Kellow J 11 , Okeke E 12 , Quigley EMM 13 , Schmulson M 14 , Whorwell P 15 , Archampong T 16 , Adibi P 17 , Andresen V 18 , Benninga MA 19 , Bonaz B 20 , Fernandez LB 21 , Choi SC 22 , Corazziari ES 23 , Francisconi C 24 , Hani A 25 , Lazebnik L 26 , Lee YY 27 , Mulak A 28 , Rahman MM 29 , Santos J 30 , Setshedi M 31 , Syam AF 32 , Vanner S 33 , Wong RK 34 , Lopez-Colombo A 35 , Costa V 25 , Dickman R 36 , Kanazawa M 10 , Keshteli AH 37 , Khatun R 4 , Maleki I 38 , Poitras P 39 , Pratap N 40 , Stefanyuk O 26 , Thomson S 31 , Buyruk M 2 , Unal N 2 , Huang D 41 , Song J 42 , Hreinsson JP 7 , Palsson OS 8

Affiliations 

  • 1 Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
  • 2 Ege University School of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey
  • 3 Department of Gastroenterology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
  • 4 Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
  • 5 Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders, University of North Carolina, Center for Education and Practice of Biopsychosocial Care, and Drossman Gastroenterology, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
  • 6 Department of Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow, India
  • 7 Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • 8 Center for Functional GI and Motility Disorders, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
  • 9 Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
  • 10 Department of Behavioral Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
  • 11 Discipline of Medicine, Northern Clinical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  • 12 Department of Medicine, University of Jos, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria
  • 13 Lynda K and David M Underwood Center for Digestive Disorder, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Houston Methodist Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College, Houston, Texas, USA
  • 14 Laboratory of Liver, Pancreas and Motility (HIPAM), Unit of Research in Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico
  • 15 Neurogastroenterology Unit, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, UK
  • 16 Department of Medicine, University of Ghana School of Medicine and Dentistry, Accra, Ghana
  • 17 Gastroenterology and Hepatology Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
  • 18 Department of Medicine, Israelitic Hospital, Hamburg, Germany
  • 19 Emma Children's Hospital, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • 20 Service d'Hépato-Gastroentérologie, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
  • 21 Centro Medico Dr. Bustos Fernandez", Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • 22 Department of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, South Korea
  • 23 IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Italy
  • 24 Department of Internal Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Gastroenterology Division, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
  • 25 Gastroenterology Unit, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia
  • 26 Department of Therapy and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Internal Medicine, Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, Moscow, Russia
  • 27 School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
  • 28 Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
  • 29 Dhaka Medical College & Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh
  • 30 Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Autonomous University of Barcelona & Neuro-Inmuno-Gastroenterology Lab, Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain & Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERHED), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
  • 31 Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
  • 32 Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia/Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 33 Gastrointestinal Diseases Research Unit, Kingston Health Science Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
  • 34 Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore City, Singapore
  • 35 UMAE Hospital de Especialidades C.M.N. Manuel Avila Camacho, Puebla, Pue, Mexico
  • 36 Division of Gastroenterology, Rabin Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv, Israel
  • 37 CEGIIR-Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  • 38 Gut and Liver Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
  • 39 CHUM, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
  • 40 KIMS Hospitals, Secunderabad, India
  • 41 Department of Gastroenterology, The People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, China
  • 42 Division of Gastroenterology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Neurogastroenterol Motil, 2023 Apr 05.
PMID: 37018412 DOI: 10.1111/nmo.14583

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The Rome Foundation Global Epidemiology Study (RFGES) assessed the prevalence, burden, and associated factors of Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBI) in 33 countries around the world. Achieving worldwide sampling necessitated use of two different surveying methods: In-person household interviews (9 countries) and Internet surveys (26 countries). Two countries, China and Turkey, were surveyed with both methods. This paper examines the differences in the survey results with the two methods, as well as likely reasons for those differences.

METHODS: The two RFGES survey methods are described in detail, and differences in DGBI findings summarized for household versus Internet surveys globally, and in more detail for China and Turkey. Logistic regression analysis was used to elucidate factors contributing to these differences.

RESULTS: Overall, DGBI were only half as prevalent when assessed with household vs Internet surveys. Similar patterns of methodology-related DGBI differences were seen within both China and Turkey, but prevalence differences between the survey methods were dramatically larger in Turkey. No clear reasons for outcome differences by survey method were identified, although greater relative reduction in bowel and anorectal versus upper gastrointestinal disorders when household versus Internet surveying was used suggests an inhibiting influence of social sensitivity.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings strongly indicate that besides affecting data quality, manpower needs and data collection time and costs, the choice of survey method is a substantial determinant of symptom reporting and DGBI prevalence outcomes. This has important implications for future DGBI research and epidemiological research more broadly.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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