Knowledge of day and time contact preferences assists in successful telephone follow-up

Abstract

Objectives: There is limited evidence as to whether knowing a participant’s contact preferences improves completion of telephone assessments in clinical trials. We examined i) participants’ preferences for telephone contact and these preferences related to day and time of actual contact; ii) the number of contact attempts to successfully complete telephone assessments; iii) the association between participant characteristics and successful telephone contacts. Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study nested within the Recovery-focused Community support to Avoid readmissions and improve participant after Stroke (ReCAPS) trial was undertaken. Information was collected on preferences (set days of the week, any weekday, morning, afternoon, evening, anytime) for assessment calls at 3 months post randomization. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used. Results: Of the 232 participants (average age 66 years, 69% male), 59% preferred calls on any weekday. Wednesday (26%) and Monday (21%) and mornings (49%) were preferred. Approximately 70% of telephone calls were completed within three contact attempts. Approximately 60% of all calls were completed on participants’ preferred day and time. There was no association between participant characteristics (sex, age, employment status, and living alone) and the number of contact attempts made for the telephone call assessment. There were no participant characteristics associated with the successful completion of assessments on participants’ preferred time/day. Conclusions: We provide new evidence, based on a case study in stroke, highlighting the importance of knowing a participant’s preferred contact day and time for the timely completion of assessments via telephone call.