Surrogate measures of exposure in questionnaire design

Abstract

Using surrogate measure of exposure is a very important alternative method in epidemiological study when direct measurement is not available. It will bring about rich information for questionnaire and then for quantitative analysis. Two examples have been given in this paper to address the application of using surrogate measures of exposures. In epidemiological research, the questionnaire is a common tool designed to elicit and record, or guide the elicitation and recording of, recalled exposures from subjects. It contains questions to be put to the subject, and may also include answers to those questions from which the subject must choose those which are appropriate to him/her. The primary objectives of questionnaire design are to obtain, with minimum error, measurements of exposure variables essential to the objectives of the study and to create an instrument that is easy to use, process and analyse the information that has been collected. Questionnaire design is vital and essential in epidemiological and public health investigation. Questionnaire construction usually involves the following steps: investigators define research question; conduct literature search and review; prepare a draft questionnaire; undertake a pilot test; refine and administer the questionnaire. The descriptions and instructions of these steps can be found from many reference books. In this paper, however, we'll focus on using surrogate measures of exposure in questionnaire design and development.