title: Recruiting and retaining general practitioners to a primary care asthma-intervention study in Australia.
abstract: The need for more evidence-based interventions in primary care is clear. However, it is challenging to recruit general practitioners (GPs) for interventional research. This paper reports on the evaluation of three methods of recruitment that were sequentially used to recruit GPs for a randomised controlled trial of an asthma communication and education intervention in Australia. The recruitment methods (RMs) were: general practices were contacted by project staff from a Department of General Practice, University of Sydney (RM1); general practices were contacted by staff from an independent research organisation (RM2); and general practices were contacted by a medical peer (chief investigator) (RM3). A GP was defined as 'recruited' once they consented and were randomised to a group, and 'retained' if they provided baseline data and did not notify staff of their intention to withdraw at any time during the 12-month study. RM1 was used for the first 6 months, during which 34 (4%) GPs were recruited and 21 (62%) retained from a total of 953 invitations. RM2 was then used for the next 5 months, during which 32 (6%) GPs were recruited and 26 (81%) were retained. Finally over the next 7 months, RM3 recruited 84 (12%) GPs and retained 75 (89%) GPs. In conclusion, use of a medical peer as the first contact was associated with the highest recruitment and retention rate.
authors.affiliation: Primary Health Care Education and Research Unit, Sydney West Local Health District, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia.
authors.forename: Smita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Sydney Nursing School, CNRU, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Jessica K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Roydhouse
authors.affiliation: Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Brett G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Toelle
authors.affiliation: Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Craig M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mellis
authors.affiliation: Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Christine R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.affiliation: Holroyd Medical Practice, Merrylands, NSW 2160, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Vic. 3052, Australia.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sawyer
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000628:therapy*; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic