Filter Questions in Symptom Assessment Affect the Prevalence of (A)Symptomatic COVID-19 Cases
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Standard
Filter Questions in Symptom Assessment Affect the Prevalence of (A)Symptomatic COVID-19 Cases. / Boehm, Robert; Sprengholz, Philipp; Betsch, Cornelia; Partheymueller, Julia.
I: Medical Decision Making, Bind 43, Nr. 4, 05.2023, s. 530-534.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Filter Questions in Symptom Assessment Affect the Prevalence of (A)Symptomatic COVID-19 Cases
AU - Boehm, Robert
AU - Sprengholz, Philipp
AU - Betsch, Cornelia
AU - Partheymueller, Julia
PY - 2023/5
Y1 - 2023/5
N2 - Background: It has been reported that a substantial number of COVID-19 infections are asymptomatic, with both symptomatic and asymptomatic infections contributing to transmission dynamics. Yet, the share of asymptomatic cases varies greatly across studies. One reason for this could be the measurement of symptoms in medical studies and surveys.Design: In 2 experimental survey studies (total N > 3,000) with participants from Germany and the United Kingdom, respectively, we varied the inclusion of a filter question on whether participants who tested positive for COVID-19 had experienced symptoms prior to presenting a checklist of symptoms. We measured the reporting of asymptomatic (versus symptomatic) COVID-19 infections.Results: The inclusion of a filter question increased the reporting of asymptomatic (versus symptomatic) COVID-19 infections. Particularly mild symptoms were underreported when using a filter question.Conclusions and implicationsFilter questions affect the reporting of (a)symptomatic COVID-19 cases. To account for such differences in the estimation of population infection rates, future studies should transparently report the applied question format.
AB - Background: It has been reported that a substantial number of COVID-19 infections are asymptomatic, with both symptomatic and asymptomatic infections contributing to transmission dynamics. Yet, the share of asymptomatic cases varies greatly across studies. One reason for this could be the measurement of symptoms in medical studies and surveys.Design: In 2 experimental survey studies (total N > 3,000) with participants from Germany and the United Kingdom, respectively, we varied the inclusion of a filter question on whether participants who tested positive for COVID-19 had experienced symptoms prior to presenting a checklist of symptoms. We measured the reporting of asymptomatic (versus symptomatic) COVID-19 infections.Results: The inclusion of a filter question increased the reporting of asymptomatic (versus symptomatic) COVID-19 infections. Particularly mild symptoms were underreported when using a filter question.Conclusions and implicationsFilter questions affect the reporting of (a)symptomatic COVID-19 cases. To account for such differences in the estimation of population infection rates, future studies should transparently report the applied question format.
KW - COVID-19
KW - symptoms
KW - survey
KW - question format
U2 - 10.1177/0272989X231158380
DO - 10.1177/0272989X231158380
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 36846876
VL - 43
SP - 530
EP - 534
JO - Medical Decision Making
JF - Medical Decision Making
SN - 0272-989X
IS - 4
ER -
ID: 346261453