Trial reportBMC health services research2005
The effect of a monetary incentive on return of a postal health and development questionnaire: a randomised trial [ISRCTN53994660].
Trial report in BMC health services research, 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Methods to increase response to postal and electronic questionnaires.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Strategies to improve retention in randomised trials.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Assessing effective interventions to improve trial retention: do they contain behaviour change techniques?Trials · 2020Pooled it
- Strategies to improve retention in randomised trials: a Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2014Pooled it
- Strategies to improve retention in randomised trials.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Methods to increase response to postal and electronic questionnaires.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2009Pooled it
- Trial
- Two speeds of increasing milk feeds for very preterm or very low-birthweight infants: the SIFT RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2020Trial
- Small Social Incentives Did Not Improve the Survey Response Rate of Patients Who Underwent Orthopaedic Surgery: A Randomized Trial.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2019Trial
- The effect of a voucher incentive on a survey response rate in the clinical setting: a quasi-randomized controlled trial.BMC medical research methodology · 2018Trial
- What impact do questionnaire length and monetary incentives have on mailed health psychology survey response?British journal of health psychology · 2017Trial
- Evaluation of the effects of an offer of a monetary incentive on the rate of questionnaire return during follow-up of a clinical trial: a randomised study within a trial.BMC medical research methodology · 2016Trial
- The use of incentives in vulnerable populations for a telephone survey: a randomized controlled trial.BMC research notes · 2012Trial
- Trial
- Article
- A Mobile Social Network-Based Smoking Cessation Intervention for Chinese Male Smokers: Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2020Article
- Trial Forge Guidance 2: how to decide if a further Study Within A Trial (SWAT) is needed.Trials · 2020Article
- Best practice guidance for the use of strategies to improve retention in randomized trials developed from two consensus workshops.Journal of clinical epidemiology · 2017Article
- "Do I really want to do this?" Longitudinal cohort study participants' perspectives on postal survey design: a qualitative study.BMC medical research methodology · 2011Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPostal questionnaires are widely used to collect data in healthcare research but a poor response rate may reduce the validity and reliability of results. There was a lack of evidence available relating to use of a monetary incentive to improve the response rate in the healthcare setting.
methodsThe MRC ORACLE Children Study is assessing the health and development of nearly 9000 seven year old children whose mothers' joined the MRC ORACLE Trial. We carried out a randomised controlled trial of inclusion of monetary incentive (five pound voucher redeemable at many high street stores) with the reminder questionnaire to parents. This trial took place between April 2002 and November 2003. When the parents were sent the reminder questionnaire about their child's health and development they were randomly assigned by concealed computer-generated allocation stratified by week of birthday to receive a five pound voucher or no incentive. The population were 722 non-responders to the initial mailing of a 12-page questionnaire.
main outcome measuresDifference in response rate between the two groups.
resultsInclusion of the voucher with the reminder questionnaire resulted in a 11.7%(95% CI 4.7% to 18.6%) improvement in the response rate between the two groups.
conclusionThis improvement in response rate and hence the validity and reliability of results obtained appears to be justified ethically and financially.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.