TY - JOUR
T1 - Determining survey satisficing of online longitudinal survey data in the multicenter AIDS cohort study
T2 - A group-based trajectory analysis
AU - Di, Junrui
AU - Li, Ying
AU - Friedman, M. Reuel
AU - Reddy, Susheel
AU - Surkan, Pamela J.
AU - Shoptaw, Steven
AU - Plankey, Michael
N1 - Funding Information:
Data in this manuscript were collected by the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS). MACS (Principal Investigators): Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (Joseph Margolick), U01-AI35042; Northwestern University (Steven Wolinsky), U01-AI35039; University of California, Los Angeles (Roger Detels), U01-AI35040; University of Pittsburgh (Charles Rinaldo), U01-AI35041; and the Center for Analysis and Management of MACS, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (Lisa Jacobson), UM1-AI35043. The MACS is funded primarily by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with additional co-funding from the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute of Mental Health. Targeted supplemental funding for specific projects was also provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders. MACS data collection is also supported by UL1-TR001079 (JHU ICTR) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official views of the NIH, Johns Hopkins ICTR, or the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.
Publisher Copyright:
© Junrui Di, Ying Li, M Reuel Friedman, Susheel Reddy, Pamela J Surkan, Steven Shoptaw, Michael Plankey. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 08.08.2016. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://publichealth.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
PY - 2016/7
Y1 - 2016/7
N2 - Background: Survey satisficing occurs when participants respond to survey questions rapidly without carefully reading or comprehending them. Studies have demonstrated the occurrence of survey satisficing, which can degrade survey quality, particularly in longitudinal studies. Objective: The aim of this study is to use a group-based trajectory analysis method to identify satisficers when similar survey questions were asked periodically in a long-standing cohort, and to examine factors associated with satisficing in the surveys having sensitive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related behavioral questions. Methods: Behavioral data were collected semiannually online at all four sites of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) from October 2008 through March 2013. Based on the start and end times, and the word counts per variable, response speed (word counts per second) for each participant visit was calculated. Two-step group-based trajectory analyses of the response speed across 9 study visits were performed to identify potential survey satisficing. Generalized linear models with repeated measures were used to investigate the factors associated with satisficing on HIV-related behavioral surveys. Results: Among the total 2138 male participants, the median baseline age was 51 years (interquartile range, 45-58); most of the participants were non-Hispanic white (62.72%, 1341/2138) and college graduates (46.59%, 996/2138), and half were HIV seropositive (50.00%, 1069/2138). A total of 543 men (25.40%, 543/2138) were considered potential satisficers with respect to their increased trajectory tendency of response speed. In the multivariate analysis, being 10 years older at the baseline visit increased the odds of satisficing by 44% (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.27-1.62, P<.001). Compared with the non-Hispanic white participants, non-Hispanic black participants were 122% more likely to satisfice the HIV-related behavioral survey (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.69-2.91, P<.001), and 99% more likely to do so for the other race/ethnicity group (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.39-2.83, P<.001). Participants with a high school degree or less were 67% more likely to satisfice the survey (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.26-2.21, P<.001) compared with those with a college degree. Having more than one sex partner and using more than one recreational drug reduced the odds of satisficing by 24% (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.61-0.94, P=.013) and 28% (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.55-0.93, P=.013), respectively. No statistically significant association of HIV serostatus with satisficing was observed. Conclusions: Using a group-based trajectory analysis method, we could identify consistent satisficing on HIV-related behavioral surveys among participants in the MACS, which was associated with being older, being non-white, and having a lower education level; however, there was no significant difference by HIV serostatus. Methods to minimize satisficing using longitudinal survey data are warranted.
AB - Background: Survey satisficing occurs when participants respond to survey questions rapidly without carefully reading or comprehending them. Studies have demonstrated the occurrence of survey satisficing, which can degrade survey quality, particularly in longitudinal studies. Objective: The aim of this study is to use a group-based trajectory analysis method to identify satisficers when similar survey questions were asked periodically in a long-standing cohort, and to examine factors associated with satisficing in the surveys having sensitive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related behavioral questions. Methods: Behavioral data were collected semiannually online at all four sites of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) from October 2008 through March 2013. Based on the start and end times, and the word counts per variable, response speed (word counts per second) for each participant visit was calculated. Two-step group-based trajectory analyses of the response speed across 9 study visits were performed to identify potential survey satisficing. Generalized linear models with repeated measures were used to investigate the factors associated with satisficing on HIV-related behavioral surveys. Results: Among the total 2138 male participants, the median baseline age was 51 years (interquartile range, 45-58); most of the participants were non-Hispanic white (62.72%, 1341/2138) and college graduates (46.59%, 996/2138), and half were HIV seropositive (50.00%, 1069/2138). A total of 543 men (25.40%, 543/2138) were considered potential satisficers with respect to their increased trajectory tendency of response speed. In the multivariate analysis, being 10 years older at the baseline visit increased the odds of satisficing by 44% (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.27-1.62, P<.001). Compared with the non-Hispanic white participants, non-Hispanic black participants were 122% more likely to satisfice the HIV-related behavioral survey (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.69-2.91, P<.001), and 99% more likely to do so for the other race/ethnicity group (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.39-2.83, P<.001). Participants with a high school degree or less were 67% more likely to satisfice the survey (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.26-2.21, P<.001) compared with those with a college degree. Having more than one sex partner and using more than one recreational drug reduced the odds of satisficing by 24% (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.61-0.94, P=.013) and 28% (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.55-0.93, P=.013), respectively. No statistically significant association of HIV serostatus with satisficing was observed. Conclusions: Using a group-based trajectory analysis method, we could identify consistent satisficing on HIV-related behavioral surveys among participants in the MACS, which was associated with being older, being non-white, and having a lower education level; however, there was no significant difference by HIV serostatus. Methods to minimize satisficing using longitudinal survey data are warranted.
KW - ACASI
KW - Cohort studies
KW - Data collection
KW - Data quality
KW - Group-based trajectory analysis
KW - Reading speed
KW - Survey satisficing
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U2 - 10.2196/publichealth.5240
DO - 10.2196/publichealth.5240
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85102319401
SN - 2369-2960
VL - 2
JO - JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
JF - JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
IS - 2
M1 - e150
ER -