Abstract
Background
The purpose of this study was to determine whether e-mail contact is a viable method
for gathering information from adolescent women about contraceptive use.
Study design
Adolescent women initiating contraception followed in a prospective longitudinal cohort
study and who had access to the Internet were randomized to the control or intervention
arm and were contacted at 3, 6 and 12 months after enrollment. The control arm completed
follow-up surveys in-person or by telephone. The intervention arm received Web-based
surveys via e-mail.
Results
There were 46 women in each group. Women in both groups were approximately 20 years
old, were sexually active minority women, and were in school or employed. While participants
in the intervention group initially had lower response rates than those in the control
group (59% vs. 91%, respectively), with the addition of traditional follow-up methods,
the overall response rates were comparable (94% vs. 91%, respectively).
Conclusions
E-mail follow-up with Web-based surveys was effective amongst adolescent women at
risk for unintended pregnancy. This indicates that e-mail contact could be used as
a preliminary follow-up strategy to capture a substantial proportion of participants
and that standard follow-up can be used as a second-line approach. A two-pronged approach
with initial e-mail contact and traditional follow-up for participants who do not
respond may be a viable method when evaluating sensitive areas such as contraceptive
use.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 04, 2013
Accepted:
November 21,
2012
Received in revised form:
November 20,
2012
Received:
August 16,
2012
Footnotes
���Clinical trials.gov identifier: NCT00333541.
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
