Assessing the representativeness of population-sampled health surveys through linkage to administrative data on alcohol-related outcomes

American Journal of Epidemiology

Volumn 180, Issue 9, 2014, Pages 941-948

  Gorman, Emma ^a   Leyland, Alastair H ^a   McCartney, Gerry ^b   White, Ian R ^c   Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal ^a,d   Rutherford, Lisa ^e   Graham, Lesley ^f   Gray, Linsay ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW   (United Kingdom)

^b HEALTHCARE IMPROVEMENT SCOTLAND   (United Kingdom)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE   (United Kingdom)

^d NHS LOTHIAN   (United Kingdom)

^e ScotCen Social Research   (United Kingdom)

^f INFORMATION SERVICES DIVISION   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

alcohol related harm; bias; health surveys; nonresponse; record linkage; Scotland

Indexed keywords

ALCOHOL; HEALTH RISK; HEALTH SURVEY; HOSPITAL SECTOR; MORTALITY; PUBLIC HEALTH; SAMPLING;

ADULT; ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION; ARTICLE; FEMALE; HEALTH SURVEY; HOSPITALIZATION; HUMAN; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; MORBIDITY; MORTALITY; OUTCOME ASSESSMENT; UNITED KINGDOM; CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY; DRINKING BEHAVIOR; EPIDEMIOLOGY; MIDDLE AGED; NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE; POISSON DISTRIBUTION; RISK FACTOR; SOCIOECONOMICS; STATISTICAL BIAS; STATISTICAL MODEL; YOUNG ADULT;

SCOTLAND; UNITED KINGDOM;

ADULT; ALCOHOL DRINKING; BIAS (EPIDEMIOLOGY); CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES; FEMALE; HEALTH SURVEYS; HUMANS; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; MODELS, STATISTICAL; POISSON DISTRIBUTION; RISK FACTORS; SCOTLAND; SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS; STATE MEDICINE; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 84911120166     PISSN: 00029262     EISSN: 14766256     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwu207     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Stockwell T, Donath S, Cooper-Stanbury M, et al. Underreporting of alcohol consumption in household surveys: a comparison of quantity-frequency, graduated-frequency and recent recall. Addiction. 2004;99(8):1024-1033.
2. Galea S, Tracy M. Participation rates in epidemiologic studies. Ann Epidemiol. 2007;17(9):643-653.
3. Aromaa A, Koponen P, Tafforeau J, et al. Evaluation of Health Interview Surveys and Health Examination Surveys in the European Union. Eur J Public Health. 2003;13(3 suppl):67-72.
4. Tolonen H, Helakorpi S, Talala K, et al. 25-year trends and socio-demographic differences in response rates: Finnish Adult Health Behaviour Survey. Eur J Epidemiol. 2006;21(6): 409-415.
5. Little RJ, Rubin DB. Statistical Analysis with Missing Data. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Wiley; 2002.
6. Maclennan B, Kypri K, Langley J, et al. Non-response bias in a community survey of drinking, alcohol-related experiences and public opinion on alcohol policy. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2012; 126(1-2):189-194.
7. Harald K, Salomaa V, Jousilahti P, et al. Non-participation and mortality in different socioeconomic groups: the FINRISK population surveys in 1972-92. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007;61(5):449-454.
8. Schneider KL, Clark MA, Rakowski W, et al. Evaluating the impact of non-response bias in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). J Epidemiol Community Health. 2012;66(4):290-295.
9. Goldberg M, Chastang JF, Leclerc A, et al. Socioeconomic, demographic, occupational, and health factors associated with participation in a long-term epidemiologic survey: a prospective study of the French GAZEL cohort and its target population. Am J Epidemiol. 2001;154(4):373-384.
10. Vinther-Larsen M, Riegels M, Rod MH, et al. The Danish Youth Cohort: characteristics of participants and non-participants and determinants of attrition. Scand J Public Health. 2010;38(6):648-656.
11. Zhao J, Stockwell T, Macdonald S. Non-response bias in alcohol and drug population surveys. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2009; 28(6):648-657.
12. Osler M, Kriegbaum M, Christensen U, et al. Rapid report on methodology: Does loss to follow-up in a cohort study bias associations between early life factors and lifestyle-related health outcomes? Ann Epidemiol. 2008;18(5):422-424.
13. Lorant V, Demarest S, Miermans PJ, et al. Survey error in measuring socio-economic risk factors of health status: a comparison of a survey and a census. Int J Epidemiol. 2007; 36(6):1292-1299.
14. Jones AM, Koolman X, Rice N. Health-related non-response in the British Household Panel Survey and European Community Household Panel: using inverse-probability-weighted estimators in non-linear models. J R Stat Soc Ser A Stat Soc. 2006;169(3):543-569.
15. Howe LD, Tilling K, Galobardes B, et al. Loss to follow-up in cohort studies: bias in estimates of socioeconomic inequalities. Epidemiology. 2013;24(1):1-9.
16. Tolonen H, Laatikainen T, Helakorpi S, et al. Marital status, educational level and household income explain part of the excess mortality of survey non-respondents. Eur J Epidemiol. 2010;25(2):69-76.
17. Gray L, Batty GD, Craig P, et al. Cohort profile: the Scottish Health Surveys cohort: linkage of study participants to routinely collected records for mortality, hospital discharge, cancer and offspring birth characteristics in three nationwide studies. Int J Epidemiol. 2010;39(2):345-350.
18. Gray L, McCartney G, White IR, et al. Use of record-linkage to handle non-response and improve alcohol consumption estimates in health survey data: a study protocol. BMJ Open. 2013;3(3):e002647.
19. McLoone P. Carstairs Scores for Scottish Postcode Sectors From the 2001 Census. Glasgow, Scotland: MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit; 2004.
20. Scottish Government. Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. Edinburgh, Scotland. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ Statistics/SIMD. Updated June 12, 2014. Accessed October 15, 2013.
21. Scottish Government. Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics Data Zones Background Information. Edinburgh, Scotland. http:// www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/02/18917/33243. Published February 18, 2004. Updated April 7, 2006. Accessed June 3, 2013.
22. Bromley C, Sproston K, Shelton N, et al. The Scottish Health Survey 2003. Volume 4. Technical Report. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Stationery Office; 2005.
23. Information Services Division, NHS National Services Scotland. SMR Data Manual. Edinburgh, Scotland. http://www.ndc.scot.nhs. uk/Data-Dictionary/SMR-Datasets/. Accessed August 9, 2013.
24. Harley K, Jones C. Quality of Scottish Morbidity Record (SMR) data. Health Bull (Edinb). 1996;54(5):410-417.
25. Information Services Division, NHS National Services Scotland. Hospital Records Data Monitoring: SMR Completeness Tables. Edinburgh, Scotland. http://www.isdscotland.org/Products-and-Services/Hospital-Records-Data-Monitoring/SMR-Completeness/. Accessed June 12, 2013.
26. Fleming M, Kirby B, Penny KI. Record linkage in Scotland and its applications to health research. J Clin Nurs. 2012;21(19-20): 2711-2721.
27. Dong W, Erens B, eds. Scotland's Health: Scottish Health Survey 1995. 2 Volumes. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Stationery Office; 1997.
28. Shaw A, McMunn A, Field J, et al. The Scottish Health Survey 1998. 2 Volumes. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Stationery Office; 2000.
29. Bromley C, Sprogston K, Shelton N, et al. The Scottish Health Survey 2003. 4 Volumes. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Stationery Office; 2005.
30. Bromley C, Bradshaw P, Given L. Volume 2: Technical Report. The Scottish Health Survey 2008. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Scottish Government Health Directorate; 2009.
31. Wooldridge JM. Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press; 2002.
32. Waterhouse JAH, Muir CS, Correa P, et al, eds. Cancer Incidence in Five Continents, Vol. III. IARC Scientific Publications No. 15. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 1976.
33. Buis ML. Stata tip 87: interpretation of interactions in non-linear models. Stata J. 2010;10(2):305-308.
34. Davern M. Nonresponse rates are a problematic indicator of nonresponse bias in survey research. Health Serv Res. 2013; 48(3):905-912.
35. Groves RM, Peytcheva E. The impact of nonresponse rates on nonresponse bias: a meta-analysis. Public Opin Q. 2008;72(2): 167-189.
36. Groves RM. Nonresponse rates and nonresponse bias in household surveys. Public Opin Q. 2006;70(5):646-675.
37. Christensen AI, Ekholm O, Kristensen PL, et al. The effect of multiple reminders on response patterns in a Danish health survey [published online ahead of print May 22, 2014]. Eur J Public Health. (doi:10.1093/eurpub/cku057).
38. Hockey R, Tooth L, Dobson A. Relative survival: a useful tool to assess generalisability in longitudinal studies of health in older persons. Emerg Themes Epidemiol. 2011; 8(1):3.
39. Knudsen AK, Hotopf M, Skogen JC, et al. The health status of nonparticipants in a population-based health study: the Hordaland Health Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2010;172(11): 1306-1314.
40. Meiklejohn J, Connor J, Kypri K. The effect of low survey response rates on estimates of alcohol consumption in a general population survey. PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e35527.
41. Ahacic K, Kåreholt I, Helgason AR, et al. Non-response bias and hazardous alcohol use in relation to previous alcohol-related hospitalization: comparing survey responses with population data. Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2013;8:10.
42. Gilchrist G, Morrison DS. Prevalence of alcohol related brain damage among homeless hostel dwellers in Glasgow. Eur J Public Health. 2005;15(6):587-588.
43. Graham L, Heller-Murphy S, Aitken L, et al. Alcohol problems in a remand Scottish prisoner population. Int J Prison Health. 2012;8(2):51-59.
44. National Records of Scotland. Scotland's Census Results Online. Edinburgh, Scotland: National Records of Scotland. http://www.scrol.gov.uk/scrol/browser/profile.jsp. Updated May 2, 2003. Accessed August 27, 2013.
45. Mäkelä P, Huhtanen P. The effect of survey sampling frame on coverage: the level of and changes in alcohol-related mortality in Finland as a test case. Addiction. 2010;105(11): 1935-1941.
46. Popham F, Boyle PJ. Is there a 'Scottish effect' for mortality? Prospective observational study of census linkage studies. J Public Health (Oxf). 2011;33(3):453-458.
47. Popova S, Rehm J, Patra J, et al. Comparing alcohol consumption in central and eastern Europe to other European countries. Alcohol Alcohol. 2007;42(5):465-473.
48. Beeston C, Reid G, Robinson M, et al. Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland's Alcohol Strategy. Third Annual Report. Edinburgh, Scotland: NHS Health Scotland; 2013.
49. Frankel MR, Battaglia MP, Balluz L, et al. When data are not missing at random: implications for measuring health conditions in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. BMJ Open. 2012;2(4): e000696.
50. Santin G, Geoffroy B, Bénézet L, et al. In an occupational health surveillance study, auxiliary data from administrative health and occupational databases effectively corrected for nonresponse. J Clin Epidemiol. 2014;67(6):722-730.