The role of an electronic questionnaires in epidemiologic studies aimed at cancer prevention

The growing number of people diagnosed with cancer is an important issue in public health. Evaluation of the population’s level of cancer-related knowledge is mandatory for planning effective prevention or intervention programs. Until recently, traditional methodology, using paper questionnaire or telephone-based interviews had dominated previous cross sectional studies related to this issue. Currently, the use of new research methods based on information technology solutions has been more frequent. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to review published data available in the PubMed database towards the identification of strengths and weaknesses of crosssectional studies conducted via Internet, a type of information technology solution. This review allowed the authors to conclude that web-based questionnaire studies could be an effective solution and may possibly replace traditionally conducted interviews. Likewise, it evidently appears that an online mode is more adequate for querying young people. However, there is lack of consensus regarding the cost-effectiveness of the application of Web technology as a research tool for epidemiological questionnaire-based studies. Data security was revealed to be an important aspect of conducting Internet-based questionnaire studies. Further efforts are aimed at standardizing this type of researches to assess their strengths and weaknesses leading to more widespread use.