title: National survey of physicians to determine the effect of unconditional incentives on response rates of physician postal surveys.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Physicians are a commonly targeted group in health research surveys, but their response rates are often relatively low. The goal of this paper was to evaluate the effect of unconditional incentives in the form of a coffee card on physician postal survey response rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  Following 13 key informant interviews and eight cognitive interviews a survey questionnaire was developed.
  
  
  METHODS
  A random sample of 534 physicians, stratified by physician group (geriatricians, family physicians, emergency physicians) was selected from a national medical directory.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using computer generated random numbers; half of the physicians in each stratum were allocated to receive a coffee card to a popular national coffee chain together with the first survey mailout.
  
  
  METHODS
  The intervention was a $10 Tim Hortons gift card given to half of the physicians who were randomly allocated to receive the incentive.
  
  
  RESULTS
  265 (57.0%) physicians completed the survey. The response rate was significantly higher in the group allocated to receive the incentive (62.7% vs 51.3% in the control group; p=0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that an unconditional incentive in the form of a coffee gift card can substantially improve physician response rates. Future research can look at the effect of varying amounts of cash on the gift cards on response rates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Kasim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abdulaziz
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brehaut
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taljaard
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Emergency Medicine, Université Laval, Laval, Quebec, Canada Unité de recherche en traumatologie-urgence-soins intensifs du Centre de recherche FRQ-S du CHA de Québec, Laval, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Émond
authors.affiliation: Département de réadaptation, Université Laval, Laval, Quebec, Canada Unité de recherche en traumatologie-urgence-soins intensifs du Centre de recherche FRQ-S du CHA de Québec, Laval, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Marie-Josée
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sirois
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jacques S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wilding
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Perry
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010820:Physicians; D011177:Postal Service; D012201:Reward; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: EPIDEMIOLOGY; GERIATRIC MEDICINE; QUALITATIVE RESEARCH