Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
Volume 59, Issue 5 , Pages 521-524 , May 2006

Postal surveys of physicians gave superior response rates over telephone interviews in a randomized trial

  • Jane S. Hocking

      Affiliations

    • Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health Research, Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health and the School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Level 5, 207 Bouverie St., Carlton 3053, Victoria, Australia
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: 613 8344 9324; fax: 613 9348 1827.
    • ,
  • Megan S.C. Lim

      Affiliations

    • Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health Research, Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health and the School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Level 5, 207 Bouverie St., Carlton 3053, Victoria, Australia
    • ,
  • Tim Read

      Affiliations

    • Melbourne Sexual Health Centre and Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health Research, Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health, Victoria, Australia
    • ,
  • Margaret Hellard

      Affiliations

    • Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health Research, Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health, Victoria, Australia

,Accepted 28 October 2005.

References 

  1. Maheux B, Legault C, Lambert J. Increasing response rates in physicians' mail surveys: an experimental study. Am J Pub Health. 1989;79:638–639
  2. Urban N, Anderson GL, Tseng A. Effects on response rates and costs of stamps vs business reply in a mail survey of physicians. J Clin Epidemiol. 1993;46:455–459
  3. Asch DA, Christakis NA, Ubel PA. Conducting physician mail surveys on a limited budget: a randomized trial comparing $2 bill versus $5 bill incentives. Med Care. 1998;36:95–99
  4. Deehan A, Templeton L, Taylor C, et al. The effect of cash and other financial inducements on the response rate of general practitioners in a national postal survey. Br J Gen Pract. 1997;47:87–90
  5. Leung GM, Johnston JM, Saing H, Tin KYK, Wong IOL, Ho L-M. Prepayment was superior to postpayment cash incentives in a randomised postal survey among physicians. J Clin Epidemiol. 2004;57:777–784
  6. Pirotta M, Gunn J, Farish S, et al. Primer postcard improves postal survey response rates. Aust NZ J Pub Health. 1999;23:196–197
  7. Osborn M, Ward J, Boyle C. Effectiveness of telephone prompts when surveying general practitioners: a randomised trial. Aust Fam Phys. 1996;25:S41–S43
  8. Jepson C, Asch DA, Hershey JC, Ubel PA. In a mailed physician survey, questionnaire length had a threshold effect on response rate. J Clin Epidemiol. 2005;58:103–105
  9. Barclay S, Todd C, Finlay I, et al. Not another questionnaire! Maximizing the response rate, predicting non-response and assessing non-response bias in postal questionnaire studies of GPs. Fam Pract. 2002;19:105–111
  10. Arroll B, Goodyear-Smith F. General practitioners' management of upper respiratory tract infections: when are antibiotics prescribed?. NZ Med J. 2000;113:493–496
  11. Zimmerman RK, Mieczkowski TA. How important is early childhood hepatitis B vaccination?: A survey of primary care physicians. J Fam Pract. 1998;47:370–374
  12. Sibbald B, Addington-Hall J, Brenneman D, Freeling P. Telephone versus postal surveys of general practitioners: methodological considerations. Br J Gen Pract. 1994;44:297–300
  13. Australian Medical Publishing Company . All practicing Doctors X State X Metro/Country (18/11/2003). Kingston, Australia: Australian Publishing Company Ptd Ltd.; 2003;
  14. StataCorp. Stata statistical software: release 8.0: College Station, TX: Stata Corporation; 2003.
  15. Weller DP, Maynard A. How general practice is funded in the United Kingdom. Med J Aust. 2004;181:109–110
  16. Gunn JM. Should Australia develop primary care research networks?. Med J Aust. 2002;177:63–66
  17. Edwards P, Roberts I, Clarke M, et al. Increasing response rates to postal questionnaires: systematic review. BMJ. 2002;324:1183–1191
  18. Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Giovannucci E, et al. Effectiveness of various mailing strategies among nonrespondents in a prospective cohort study. Am J Epidemiol. 1990;131:1068–1071
  19. Gupta L, Ward J, D'Este C. Differential effectiveness of telephone prompts by medical and non-medical staff in increasing survey response rates: a randomised trial. Aust NZ J Pub Health. 1997;21:98–99
  20. Temple-Smith M, Mulvey G, Doyle W. Maximising response rates in a survey of general practitioners. Lessons from a Victorian survey on sexually transmissible diseases. Aust Fam Phys. 1998;27(Suppl 1):S15–S18

PII: S0895-4356(05)00400-2

doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2005.10.009

Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
Volume 59, Issue 5 , Pages 521-524 , May 2006

Article Tools