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Study design

Section edited by Demosthenes Panagiotakos

This section considers manuscripts that investigate how choices of research methodology and study design can impact study results, including research participation and study outcomes.

Page 1 of 4

  1. Central cancer registries are often used to survey population-based samples of cancer survivors. These surveys are typically administered via paper or telephone. In most populations, web surveys obtain much lo...

    Authors: Morgan M. Millar, Joanne W. Elena, Lisa Gallicchio, Sandra L. Edwards, Marjorie E. Carter, Kimberly A. Herget and Carol Sweeney

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:208

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  2. Increasing rates of long-term sickness absence are a worldwide problem. Belgium is the first country in Europe that aims to screen its entire population of sick leavers (sick leave > 6 weeks) for the risk of l...

    Authors: Kaat Goorts, Charlotte Vanovenberghe, Charlotte Lambreghts, Eline Bruneel, Dorina Rusu, Sofie Vandenbroeck and Lode Godderis

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:205

    Content type: Research article

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  3. A standard or consensus definition of a systematic review does not exist. Therefore, if there is no definition about a systematic review in secondary studies that analyse them or the definition is too broad, i...

    Authors: Marina Krnic Martinic, Dawid Pieper, Angelina Glatt and Livia Puljak

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:203

    Content type: Research article

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  4. In the early years of life, the benefits of parental engagement in children’s learning are well documented. Early childhood educators are a potentially effective source of support, having opportunity to engage...

    Authors: Zvezdana Petrovic, Olivia Clayton, Jan Matthews, Catherine Wade, Lina Tan, Denny Meyer, Antony Gates, Alex Almendingen and Warren Cann

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:197

    Content type: Study protocol

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  5. Health services have not provided adequate support for young people with long term health conditions to transfer from child to adult services. National Institute of Health and Care (NICE) guidance on transitio...

    Authors: Helen Eke, Astrid Janssens, Johnny Downs, Richard M. Lynn, Cornelius Ani and Tamsin Ford

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:179

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  8. Pragmatic randomized, controlled trials (PCTs) test the effectiveness of interventions implemented in routine clinical practice. Because PCT findings are generalizable, this approach is gaining momentum among ...

    Authors: Rosa R. Baier, Eric Jutkowitz, Susan L. Mitchell, Ellen McCreedy and Vincent Mor

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:156

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  9. The attendance to cervical cancer screening is low among immigrants in many high-income countries. Although several interventions have been experimentally tested,implementation remains a challenge. Several fac...

    Authors: Samera A. Qureshi, Abdi Gele, Prabhjot Kour, Kathy A. Møen, Bernadette Kumar and Esperanza Diaz

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:147

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  10. Postal surveys are widely used in scientific studies, including dietary surveys, but few studies about methods to increase participation in national dietary surveys are published. In the present study we compa...

    Authors: Jannicke Borch Myhre, Lene Frost Andersen, Kristin Holvik, Helene Astrup and Anne Lene Kristiansen

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:144

    Content type: Research article

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  12. The number of web-based E-epidemiologic studies using online recruitment methods is increasing. However, the optimal online recruitment method in terms of maximizing recruitment rates is still unknown. Our aim...

    Authors: Cauane Blumenberg, Ana Maria Baptista Menezes, Helen Gonçalves, Maria Cecília Formoso Assunção, Fernando César Wehrmeister and Aluísio J. D. Barros

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:127

    Content type: Research article

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  13. Household surveys are a key epidemiological, medical, and social research method. In poor urban environments, such as slums, censuses can often be out-of-date or fail to record transient residents, maps may be...

    Authors:

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:109

    Content type: Study protocol

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  15. Q methodology is an evidenced approach to researching subjectivity, involving a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The methodology has been used successfully in healthcare research to expl...

    Authors: Melissa Kirschbaum, Tony Barnett and Merylin Cross

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:101

    Content type: Research article

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  16. Bayesian adaptive designs can improve the efficiency of trials, and lead to trials that can produce high quality evidence more quickly, with fewer patients and lower costs than traditional methods. The aim of ...

    Authors: Elizabeth G. Ryan, Julie Bruce, Andrew J. Metcalfe, Nigel Stallard, Sarah E. Lamb, Kert Viele, Duncan Young and Simon Gates

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:99

    Content type: Research article

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  17. Evaluation of complex interventions (CI) is challenging for health researchers and requires innovative approaches. The objective of this work is to present the main methods used to evaluate CI.

    Authors: Laetitia Minary, Justine Trompette, Joëlle Kivits, Linda Cambon, Cyril Tarquinio and François Alla

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:92

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  18. Reliable data from health surveys are essential to describe the status and trends in health indicators by means of information not available from official registers. In Denmark, nationally representative healt...

    Authors: Heidi Amalie Rosendahl Jensen, Ola Ekholm, Michael Davidsen and Anne Illemann Christensen

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:91

    Content type: Research article

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  19. Studies in both paediatric and psychiatric settings often experience problems in recruitment. This can compromise the ability of the study to recruit to target, meaning studies are potentially underpowered. It...

    Authors: Maria E. Loades, Lucie Smith, Nina Higson-Sweeney, Lucy Beasant, Paul Stallard, David Kessler and Esther Crawley

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:89

    Content type: Research article

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  20. Biomarkers of inflammation predictive of cystic fibrosis (CF) disease outcomes would increase the power of clinical trials and contribute to better personalization of clinical assessments. A representative pat...

    Authors: Theodore G. Liou, Frederick R. Adler, Natalia Argel, Fadi Asfour, Perry S. Brown, Barbara A. Chatfield, Cori L. Daines, Dixie Durham, Jessica A. Francis, Barbara Glover, Theresa Heynekamp, John R. Hoidal, Judy L. Jensen, Ruth Keogh, Carol M. Kopecky, Noah Lechtzin…

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:88

    Content type: Research article

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  22. There is evidence that the physician response rate is declining. In response to this, methods for increasing the physician response rate are currently being explored. This paper examines the response rate and ...

    Authors: Lesley Weaver, Timothy J. Beebe and Todd Rockwood

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:73

    Content type: Research article

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  23. Surveys are established methods for collecting population data that are unavailable from other sources; however, response rates to surveys are declining. A number of methods have been identified to increase su...

    Authors: Siân Harrison, Jane Henderson, Fiona Alderdice and Maria A. Quigley

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:65

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  24. Our work was motivated by the need to, given serum availability and/or financial resources, decide on which samples to test in a serum bank for different pathogens. Simulation-based sample size calculations we...

    Authors: Stéphanie Blaizot, Sereina A. Herzog, Steven Abrams, Heidi Theeten, Amber Litzroth and Niel Hens

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:51

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  25. EHR phenotyping offers the ability to rapidly assemble a precisely defined cohort of patients prescreened for eligibility to participate in health-related research. Even so, stakeholders in the process must st...

    Authors: Laura M. Beskow, Kathleen M. Brelsford and Catherine M. Hammack

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:42

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  26. Precarious status migrants are a group of persons who are vulnerable, heterogeneous, and often suspicious of research teams. They are underrepresented in population-based research projects, and strategies to r...

    Authors: Margaux Fête, Josephine Aho, Magalie Benoit, Patrick Cloos and Valéry Ridde

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:41

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  27. Looked after children and care leavers have an increased risk of drug and alcohol use compared to their non-LAC peers. Despite high prevalence rates within this population, looked after children are reported t...

    Authors: Hayley Alderson, Rebecca Brown, Alex Copello, Eileen Kaner, Gillian Tober, Raghu Lingam and Ruth McGovern

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:38

    Content type: Research article

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  28. The aim of the Hellenic National Nutrition and Health Survey was to assess nutritional intake, health status and various behaviors in a representative sample of the Greek population.

    Authors: Emmanuella Magriplis, Ioannis Dimakopoulos, Dimitra Karageorgou, Anastasia-Vasiliki Mitsopoulou, Ioanna Bakogianni, Renata Micha, George Michas, Triantafyllia Ntouroupi, Sophia-Maria Tsaniklidou, Kostantina Argyri, George Danezis, Constantinos Georgiou, Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos and Antonis Zampelas

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:37

    Content type: Research article

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  29. Self-management support programmes are effective in a range of chronic conditions however there is limited evidence for their use in the treatment of chronic headaches. The aim of this study was to test the fe...

    Authors: Kimberley White, Rachel Potter, Shilpa Patel, Vivien P. Nichols, Kirstie L. Haywood, Siew Wan Hee, Dipesh Mistry, Dawn Carnes, Stephanie J. C. Taylor, Martin Underwood and Manjit S. Matharu

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:30

    Content type: Research article

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  30. It is challenging to manage data collection as planned and creation of opportunities to adapt during the course of enrolment may be needed. This paper aims to summarize the different sampling strategies adopte...

    Authors: Ala’a Alkerwi, Jessica Pastore, Nicolas Sauvageot, Gwenaëlle Le Coroller, Valéry Bocquet, Marylène d’Incau, Gloria Aguayo, Brice Appenzeller, Dritan Bejko, Torsten Bohn, Laurent Malisoux, Sophie Couffignal, Stephanie Noppe, Charles Delagardelle, Jean Beissel, Anna Chioti…

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:27

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  31. Recruitment to clinical trials can be challenging. Methods that improve the efficiency of trial recruitment are needed to increase successful study completions. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether s...

    Authors: Amy Rogers, Robert W. V. Flynn, Isla S. Mackenzie and Thomas M. MacDonald

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:24

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  33. The continual reassessment method (CRM) is a model-based design for phase I trials, which aims to find the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of a new therapy. The CRM has been shown to be more accurate in targeting...

    Authors: Graham M. Wheeler, Adrian P. Mander, Alun Bedding, Kristian Brock, Victoria Cornelius, Andrew P. Grieve, Thomas Jaki, Sharon B. Love, Lang’o Odondi, Christopher J. Weir, Christina Yap and Simon J. Bond

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:18

    Content type: Technical advance

    Published on:

  34. Data are limited regarding how to effectively and efficiently identify patient priorities for research or clinical care. Our goal was to compare the comprehensiveness and efficiency of group concept mapping (G...

    Authors: Kristin L. Rising, Marianna LaNoue, Alexzandra T. Gentsch, Amanda M. B. Doty, Amy Cunningham, Brendan G. Carr, Judd E. Hollander, Lori Latimer, Larry Loebell, Gail Weingarten, Neva White and Geoffrey Mills

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:7

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  35. Studies elucidating health-related information and special needs of Syrian migrants living in Germany are urgently required. However, data is scarce and finding appropriate sampling strategies to obtain repres...

    Authors: Tobias Weinmann, Amal AlZahmi, Andreas Schneck, Julian Felipe Mancera Charry, Günter Fröschl and Katja Radon

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:5

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  36. In a randomised controlled trial, contamination is defined as the receipt of active intervention amongst participants in the control arm. This review assessed the processes leading to contamination, its typica...

    Authors: Nicholas Magill, Ruth Knight, Paul McCrone, Khalida Ismail and Sabine Landau

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:4

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  37. There are significant challenges to the successful conduct of non-inferiority trials because they require large numbers to demonstrate that an alternative intervention is “not too much worse” than the standard...

    Authors: Iris Lansdorp-Vogelaar, Reshma Jagsi, Jinani Jayasekera, Natasha K. Stout, Sandra A. Mitchell and Eric J. Feuer

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2019 19:3

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  38. Although in recent years there has been a strong increase in published research on theories (e.g. realist evaluation, normalization process theory) driving and guiding process evaluations of complex interventi...

    Authors: P. Masterson-Algar, C. R. Burton and J. Rycroft-Malone

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2018 18:180

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  39. Workplace health interventions incorporating qualitative and quantitative components (mixed methods) within a Participatory Action Research approach can increase understanding of contextual issues ensuring rea...

    Authors: Marguerite C. Sendall, Laura K. McCosker, Alison Brodie, Melissa Hill and Phil Crane

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2018 18:167

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  40. In Sweden, human tissue samples obtained from diagnostic and surgical procedures have for decades been routinely stored in a formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded, form. Through linkage with nationwide registers, ...

    Authors: Jessica Carlsson, Sabina Davidsson, Jonna Fridfeldt, Francesca Giunchi, Valentina Fiano, Chiara Grasso, Renata Zelic, Lorenzo Richiardi, Ove Andrén, Andreas Pettersson, Michelangelo Fiorentino and Olof Akre

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2018 18:161

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  41. Integrated knowledge translation (IKT) is a research approach in which knowledge users (KUs) co-produce research. The rationale for IKT is that it leads to research that is more relevant and useful to KUs, the...

    Authors: Mary Ann O’Brien, Andrea Carson, Lisa Barbera, Melissa C. Brouwers, Craig C. Earle, Ian D. Graham, Nicole Mittmann and Eva Grunfeld

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2018 18:150

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  43. Conducting prospective epidemiological studies of hospitalized patients with rare diseases like primary subarachnoid hemorrhage (pSAH) are difficult due to time and budgetary constraints. Routinely collected a...

    Authors: S. W. English, L. McIntyre, V. Saigle, M. Chassé, D. A. Fergusson, A. F. Turgeon, F. Lauzier, D. Griesdale, A. Garland, R. Zarychanski, A. Algird and C. van Walraven

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2018 18:94

    Content type: Study protocol

    Published on:

  46. Phase III randomized controlled trials (RCT) typically exclude certain patient subgroups, thereby potentially jeopardizing estimation of a drug’s effects when prescribed to wider populations and under routine ...

    Authors: Helene Karcher, Shuai Fu, Jie Meng, Mikkel Zöllner Ankarfeldt, Orestis Efthimiou, Mark Belger, Josep Maria Haro, Lucien Abenhaim and Clementine Nordon

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2018 18:75

    Content type: Technical advance

    Published on:

  47. Attrition occurs when a participant fails to respond to one or more study waves. The accumulation of attrition over several waves can lower the sample size and power and create a final sample that could differ...

    Authors: Samantha Spiers, Evrim Oral, Elizabeth T. H. Fontham, Edward S. Peters, James L. Mohler, Jeannette T. Bensen and Christine S. Brennan

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2018 18:60

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  48. Realist approaches seek to answer questions such as ‘how?’, ‘why?’, ‘for whom?’, ‘in what circumstances?’ and ‘to what extent?’ interventions ‘work’ using context-mechanism-outcome (CMO) configurations. Quanti...

    Authors: John A. Ford, Andy Jones, Geoff Wong, Allan Clark, Tom Porter and Nick Steel

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2018 18:57

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  49. Rapid response in health technology assessment is a synthesis of the best available evidence prepared in a timely manner to meet specific demands. We build a consensus among Brazilian specialists in health tec...

    Authors: Marcus Tolentino Silva, Everton Nunes da Silva and Jorge Otávio Maia Barreto

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2018 18:51

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

  50. List randomization (LR), a survey method intended to mitigate biases related to sensitive true/false questions, has received recent attention from researchers. However, tests of its validity are limited, with ...

    Authors: Noah Haber, Guy Harling, Jessica Cohen, Tinofa Mutevedzi, Frank Tanser, Dickman Gareta, Kobus Herbst, Deenan Pillay, Till Bärnighausen and Günther Fink

    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2018 18:46

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

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