How was the ECHOS-NHL study conducted?
This population-based SEER study was conducted in collaboration with researchers at the
University of Southern California and the Los
Angeles County Cancer Surveillance Program's SEER registry,
which provided the sampling frame. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey
mailed to eligible survivors of aggressive NHL who were diagnosed 2-5 years before the
study (diagnosis dates ranged from June 1, 1998 to August 31, 2001). The majority of the
surveys were mailed between April and August, 2003; a small second wave of data was
collected between April and July, 2005.
All survey items went through two rounds of cognitive testing to ensure that they were
clearly understood and reliably interpreted by potential respondents. A small pilot test
was conducted with 32 survivors of aggressive NHL before the final field administration of
the survey.
Of the 744 survivors eligible to participate in the study, 408 (54.8%) responded to the
survey; 319 returned the mailed survey and 89 answered a shorter version of the survey by
telephone. Complete or partial medical record data were obtained for 244 of the 408
survey respondents.
Details on the sampling design, sample characteristics, conceptual framework and
content of the survey are presented in Arora, Hamilton,
Potosky, et al. (2007).
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