title: Randomized trial of financial incentives and delivery methods for improving response to a mailed questionnaire.
abstract: In a follow-up study, only 64% of 126,628 US radiologic technologists completed a questionnaire during 1994-1997 after two mailings. The authors conducted a randomized trial of financial incentives and delivery methods to identify the least costly approach for increasing overall participation. They randomly selected nine samples of 300 nonresponders each to receive combinations of no, 1.00 US dollar, 2.00 US dollars, and 5.00 US dollars cash or check incentives delivered by first-class mail or Federal Express. Federal Express delivery did not achieve greater participation than first-class mail (23.2% vs. 23.7%). In analyses pooled across delivery methods, the response was significantly greater for the 2.00 US dollar bill (28.9%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 25.2, 32.7; p < 0.0001), 5.00 US dollars check (27.5%, 95% CI: 22.5, 33.0; p = 0.0001), 1.00 US dollar bill (24.6%, 95% CI: 21.2, 28.3; p = 0.0007), and 2.00 US dollars check (21.8%, 95% CI: 18.5, 25.3; p = 0.02) compared with no incentive (16.6%, 95% CI: 13.7, 19.9). The response increased significantly with increasing incentive amounts from 0.00 to 2.00 US dollars cash (p trend < 0.0001). The 2.00 US dollar bill achieved a 30% greater response than did a 2.00 US dollars check (p = 0.005). For incentives sent by first-class mail, the 5.00 US dollars check yielded 30% greater participation than did the 2.00 US dollars check (p = 0.07). A 1.00 US dollar bill, chosen instead of the 2.00 US dollars bill because of substantially lower overall cost and sent by first-class mail to the remaining 42,717 nonresponders, increased response from 64% to 72%.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. doodym@exchange.nih.gov
authors.forename: Michele Morin
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Doody
authors.forename: Alice S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Sigurdson
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kampa
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chimes
authors.forename: Bruce H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ron
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Tarone
authors.forename: Martha S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Linet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D011177:Postal Service; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000191:economics