Feasibility of quality-of-life research on the Internet: A follow-up study

Objective: Assessment of the feasibility of conducting clinical research with patients using electronic mail and the World Wide Web. Design: We re-contacted 463 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 154 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients who had provided us with email addresses as part of a Web-based study. In an electronic mail message, we informed patients of a web site with a new study and invited them to participate. We then examined the factors associated with patients' participation in the new study. Results: Completion rates were 28% for UC patients (single mailing) and 48% for BPH patients (up to four mailings in a two-month period). Some patients could not be contacted due to invalid email addresses (23%). Those who completed the new study tended to be older, and less time had elapsed since their participation in the previous study. Furthermore, their health-related quality-of-life had significantly improved since the previous study. Conclusion: It is possible to use direct electronic mail contact to conduct follow-up research with patients. Response rates appear to be related to the number of messages sent, age of the recipients, and time since the initial contact.