Irritable bowel syndrome: are incentives useful for improving survey response rates?
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders. There continues to be a need for community-based research into this condition. Unfortunately, response rates in community-based IBS surveys have typically been very low. In this study, we explore the use of incentives and multiple-response options as a means of increasing survey response rates. The study was conducted in three phases. In an initial phase, no incentive was offered; in the second phase, a 5.00 Canadian dollars incentive was offered; and in the third phase, a 20.00 Canadian dollars incentive was offered. Response rates were higher in the incentive groups: Individual response rates were 57.9%, 72.7%, and 84.7% in the three phases, respectively. A slightly higher estimate of IBS prevalence was obtained in the no incentive group. Selection bias is a possible explanation for this difference. A decision about whether to use incentives must be based on the specific goals of the study.
Patten
Scott B
SB
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta 2N 4N1, Canada. patten@ucalgary.ca
Li
Feng Xiao
FX
Cook
Tim
T
Hilsden
Robert J
RJ
Sutherland
Lloyd R
LR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000416:Alberta / Q000453:epidemiology; D003109:Colonic Diseases, Functional / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D018579:Patient Selection; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015995:Prevalence; D015983:Selection Bias; D014040:Token Economy