Decreasing Survey Response Rates in the Time of COVID-19: Implications for Analyses of Population Health and Health Inequities.

Abstract

<b>Objectives.</b> To examine whether, and if so how, US national and state survey response rates changed after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. <b>Methods.</b> We compared the change in response rates between 2020 and 2019 of 6 (3 social and economic, 3 health focused) major US national surveys (2 with state response rates). <b>Results.</b> All the ongoing surveys except 1 reported relative decreases (∼29%) in response rates. For example, the household response rate to the US Census American Community Survey decreased from 86.0% in 2019 to 71.2% in 2020, and the response rate of the US National Health Interview Survey decreased from 60.0% to 42.7% from the first to the second quarter of 2020. For all surveys, the greatest decreases in response rates occurred among persons with lower income and lower education. <b>Conclusions.</b> Socially patterned decreases in response rates pose serious challenges and must be addressed explicitly in all studies relying on data obtained since the onset of the pandemic. <b>Public Health Implications.</b> Artifactual reduction of estimates of the magnitude of health inequities attributable to differential response rates could adversely affect efforts to reduce these inequities. (<i>Am J Public Health.</i> 2023;113(6):667-670. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307267).