Physician participation in research surveys - A randomized study of inducements to return mailed research questionnaires

The authors randomly selected 400 physicians from a population of 1,545 pra cticing physicians providing follow-up care to patients who received bone m arrow or blood stem cell transplants at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to determine interest in receiving Internet-based transplant inform ation. In a two-factor completely randomized factorial design, the 400 phys icians were assigned to receive nailed surveys with either no compensation or a $5 check and either no follow-up call or a follow-up call 3 weeks afte r mailing. Overall, 51.5% of the physicians returned the mailed surveys. Co mparison of legit models showed that inclusion of a $5 check in the mailer significantly (p = .016) increased the probability of returning the surveys (57.5% vs. 45.5%). In contrast, the telephone follow-up had no overall eff ect. The authors concluded a modest financial reward can significantly impr ove physician response rates to research surveys but a telephone follow-up may be inefficient and even ineffective.