A comprehensive questionnaire of 163 questions about various aspects of sickness-certification practice and related work issues was developed, based on a previous questionnaire, research, and contacts with many different clinicians and researchers in the area [ 29, 31].
The themes for reasons for participation were taken from a previous questionnaire based study conducted with parents in the Netherlands[ 7] as these had already been validated in a European population.
These results seem to agree with a previous questionnaire survey among Thai GPs, which found that approximately 50% of them prescribed BZDs for more than 25% of their patients [ 11].
The first part of the questionnaire (Additional file 1) used partially validated questions from a previous questionnaire used in a previous EMS study done in 2002 [1].
11 The questionnaire was based on a previous questionnaire, 10 however revised and extended.
However, the consistency of our findings with a previous questionnaire-based survey (Applied Survey Research and the Center for Community Advocacy 2001) suggests that the housing problems we have identified represent typical conditions for low-income families in this community.
These results are inconsistent with the results of our previous questionnaire study indicating professionals, with similar levels of experience in neonatal intensive care settings, perceive the pain experience of infants as reduced as their level of risk for neurological impairment increases [ 12].
In accordance with previous questionnaire surveys concerning scrapie [ 16- 18, 23] the questionnaire survey was performed as an anonymous study to reduce the potential problem of farmers concealing their true opinion.
RRSB diagnosis and severity were assessed using a modified version of a previous published questionnaire designed to identify punding in patients with PD.
Items were informed by previous questionnaires and interviews with women suggesting the measure has content and face validity.
