An analysis of disease-related personal, socio-demographic and trip-related characteristics influencing the reporting rate of data collection methods during a travel survey

Abstract

Recent research indicates that trips, made during a travel survey, are often underreported in the deployed data collection methods. The present study contributes to the field by determining whether disease-related physical, cognitive or psychological impairments, as well as socio-demographic and trip-related factors, contributed significantly to changes in reporting by persons with various disability severities. 108 persons with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) were classified into three subgroups determined by their ambulatory dysfunction: mild (n=51), moderate (n=27) and severe (n=30) MS. The respondents had to fill in a travel diary and carry a GPS logger during seven consecutive days. Clinical tests and questionnaires were applied to gain information about their disability characteristics, and to investigate their impact to the data-quality. The results of the study indicate that GPS devices were a good addition for the diary data especially for the underreported trips to home. The higher t