Abstract
Objective
We investigated the differences in response rates and the presence of response bias
in two randomized surveys of prescribing intentions for statins and asthma.
Study Design and Setting
We conducted the surveys of British general practitioners (GPs) in 2002. The two surveys
had similar designs, formats, administration time, administration methods, and target
populations. We compared the response rates to the two surveys while controlling for
the characteristics of respondents with nonrespondents. We also compared early respondents
with late respondents and assessed heterogeneity in the answers of early and late
respondents to two key questions.
Results
The response rates to the two surveys were significantly different (statins: 27%;
asthma: 19%; P=0.002). We found no interaction between the survey type and any of the GP and practice
characteristics we examined. The GPs' answers to the key questions did not differ
regardless of the timing of the responses.
Conclusion
We demonstrated that the surveys' contents significantly influenced the response rates.
We found no evidence that the nonrespondents would have answered the key questions
differently. Future studies should investigate the mechanisms by which contents of
surveys may influence response rate.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 25, 2008
Accepted:
October 26,
2007
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
