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CORRESPONDENCE |
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Year : 2020 | Volume
: 152
| Issue : 1 | Page : 141 |
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Authors’ response
Pranab Chatterjee1, Tanu Anand2, Kh Jitenkumar Singh3, Reeta Rasaily4, Ravinder Singh5, Santasabuj Das6, Harpreet Singh7, Ira Praharaj8, Raman R Gangakhedkar8, Balram Bhargava9, Samiran Panda10
1 Translational Global Health Policy Research Cell, New Delhi, India 2 Multidisciplinary Research Unit/Model Rural Health Research Unit, New Delhi, India 3 ICMR-National Institute of Medical Statistics, New Delhi, India 4 Division of Reproductive Biology, Maternal Health & Child Health, New Delhi, India 5 Division of Non-Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India 6 Division of Clinical Medicine, ICMR-National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, West Bengal, India 7 Informatics, Systems & Research Management Cell, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India 8 Division of Epidemiology & Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India 9 Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare; Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India 10 ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Date of Web Publication | 03-Aug-2020 |
Correspondence Address: Samiran Panda ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
Read associated with this article DOI: 10.4103/0971-5916.291338
How to cite this article: Chatterjee P, Anand T, Singh KJ, Rasaily R, Singh R, Das S, Singh H, Praharaj I, Gangakhedkar RR, Bhargava B, Panda S. Authors’ response. Indian J Med Res 2020;152:141 |
How to cite this URL: Chatterjee P, Anand T, Singh KJ, Rasaily R, Singh R, Das S, Singh H, Praharaj I, Gangakhedkar RR, Bhargava B, Panda S. Authors’ response. Indian J Med Res [serial online] 2020 [cited 2021 Jan 23];152:141. Available from: https://www.ijmr.org.in/text.asp?2020/152/1/141/291338 |
We thank the author of the letter for a critical reading of our article[1]. Our study was conducted to generate evidence to inform and, if needed, review policy responses particularly with regard to the use of chemoprophylaxis by healthcare workers against COVID-19. While acknowledging the shortcoming in recruiting cases and controls based on the calculated sample size, we would like to underline that the response rate in our study has been higher compared to the other studies, following a similar methodology, both in India and abroad[2],[3],[4],[5]. Registry-based recruitment and telephonic surveys are known to face the hurdle of non-participation. Therefore, in order to improve the response rate, we followed several strategies, such as multiple call attempts, targeted call times and training interviewers[6],[7],[8].
While we are aware that the article by Mehra et al[9],used as a reference in our publication, has been retracted, we would like to highlight the fact that our article was published in May 2020, before the retraction notice was issued on June 5, 2020. The Lancet editors published an expression of concern about the article by Mehra et al[9] on June 3, 2020[10]. Further, the topic of the now retracted study was treatment of COVID-19 cases, whereas the ambit of our study was pre-exposure prophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2. The two were very different contexts.
References | |  |
1. | Chatterjee P, Anand T, Singh KJ, Rasaily R, Singh R, Das S, et al. Healthcare workers & SARS-CoV-2 infection in India: A case-control investigation in the time of COVID-19. Indian J Med Res 2020; 151 : 459-67. |
2. | Zhang R, Thacker N, Choudhury P, Pazol K, Orenstein WA, Omer SB, et al. Comparison of two survey methods based on response distribution of pediatricians regarding immunization for children in India: Mail versus Telephone. Int J TDH 2016; 16 : 1-10. |
3. | Gahr M, Eller J, Connemann BJ, Schönfeldt-Lecuona C. Subjective reasons for non-reporting of adverse drug reactions in a sample of physicians in outpatient care. Pharmacopsychiatry 2016; 49 : 57-61. |
4. | Peretti-Watel P, Bendiane MK, Pegliasco H, Lapiana JM, Favre R, Galinier A, et al. Doctors' opinions on euthanasia, end of life care, and doctor-patient communication: Telephone survey in France. BMJ 2003; 327 : 595-6. |
5. | DuVal G, Clarridge B, Gensler G, Danis M. A national survey of U.S. internists' experiences with ethical dilemmas and ethics consultation. J Gen Intern Med 2004; 19 : 251-8. |
6. | de Leeuw ED, Hox JJ. I am not selling anything: 29 experiments in telephone introductions. Int J Public Opinion Res 2004; 16 : 464-73. |
7. | Sangster RL. Can we improve our methods to reduce nonresponse bias in RDD surveys? In: 2003 Joint Statistical Meetings - Section on survey research methods. Alexandria, VA: American Statistical Association; 2003. p. 8. |
8. | O'Toole J, Sinclair M, Leder K. Maximising response rates in household telephone surveys. BMC Med Res Methodol 2008; 8 : 71. |
9. | Mehra MR, Ruschitzka F, Patel AN. Retraction - Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: A multinational registry analysis. Lancet 2020; 395 : 1820. |
10. | Editors TL. Expression of concern: Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: A multinational registry analysis. Lancet 2020; 395 : e102. |
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