Identifying Fraudulent Responses in a Study Exploring Delivery Options for Pregnancies Impacted by Gestational Diabetes: Lessons Learned From a Web-Based Survey

Abstract

Current literature is unclear on the safety and optimal timing of delivery for pregnant individuals with gestational diabetes mellitus, which inspired our study team to conduct a web-based survey study exploring patient and provider opinions on delivery options. However, an incident of fraudulent activity with survey responses prompted a shift in the focus of the research project. Unfortunately, despite the significant rise of web-based surveys used in medical research, there remains very limited evidence on the implications of and optimal methods to handle fraudulent web-based survey responses. Therefore, the objective of this viewpoint paper was to highlight our approach to identifying fraudulent responses in a web-based survey study, in the context of clinical perinatal research exploring patient and provider opinions on delivery options for pregnancies with gestational diabetes mellitus. Initially, we conducted cross-sectional web-based surveys across Canada with pregnant patients and perinatal health care providers. Surveys were available through Research Electronic Data Capture, and recruitment took place between March and October 2023. A change to recruitment introduced a US $5 gift card incentive to increase survey engagement. In mid-October 2023, an incident of fraudulent activity was reported, after which the surveys were deactivated. Systematic guidelines were developed by the study team in consultation with information technology services and the research ethics board to filter fraudulent from true responses. Between October 14 and 16, 2023, an influx of almost 2500 responses (393 patients and 2047 providers) was recorded in our web-based survey. Systematic filtering flagged numerous fraudulent responses. We identified fraudulent responses based on criteria including, but not limited to, identical timestamps and responses, responses with slight variations in wording and similar timestamps, and fraudulent email addresses. Therefore, the incident described in this viewpoint paper highlights the importance of preserving research integrity by using methodologically sound practices to extract true data for research findings. These fraudulent events continue to threaten the credibility of research findings and future evidence-based practices.

Keywords: anonymous online research; data analysis; data integrity; diabetes; diabetes mellitus; evidence-based; fraud; fraudulent; fraudulent responses; gestational diabetes; internet research; patient; patient participation; perinatal health; pregnancy; provider participation; research fraud; social media; survey; web-based survey.

Figure 1

Approach to fraudulent response filtering.

Figure 2

Timeline for survey response influx and screening. See Multimedia Appendix 1 for reasons why patient survey records were flagged as fraudulent. See Multimedia Appendix 2 for reasons why provider survey records were flagged as fraudulent.