Trial reportBMJ open2015
National survey of physicians to determine the effect of unconditional incentives on response rates of physician postal surveys.
Trial report in BMJ open, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Methods to increase response to postal and electronic questionnaires.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- A Randomized Experiment of Mailed Incentives to Improve Emergency Physician Survey Participation.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Strongyloides Awareness and Knowledge among Canadian Physicians Caring for Patients At Risk for Severe Strongyloidiasis: A National Cross-sectional Survey.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2022Article
- Article
- Determinants of smoking cessation counseling favorable practice for primary care physicians: A cross-sectional study from Palestine.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2021Article
- Factors That Impact the Adoption of Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) for Antibiotic Management.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Lessons Learned in a Physician Referral to Pediatric Telemental Health Services Program.Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry = Journal de l'Academie canadienne de psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent · 2019Article
- Effectiveness of training general practitioners to improve the implementation of brief stop-smoking advice in German primary care: study protocol of a pragmatic, 2-arm cluster randomised controlled trial (the ABCII trial).BMC family practice · 2019Article
- The evolution of the cancer formulary review in Canada: Can centralization improve the use of economic evaluation?The International journal of health planning and management · 2017Article
- Barriers to sexual health care: a survey of Iranian-American physicians in California, USA.BMC health services research · 2016Article
- Associations between non-discrimination and training policies and physicians' attitudes and knowledge about sexual and gender minority patients: a comparison of physicians from two hospitals.BMC public health · 2016Article
- National Survey of Geriatricians to Define Functional Decline in Elderly People with Minor Trauma.Canadian geriatrics journal : CGJ · 2016Article
- What drives junior doctors to use clinical practice guidelines? A national cross-sectional survey of foundation doctors in England & Wales.BMC medical education · 2015Article
- Physicians' attitudes on the implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship program in Lebanese hospitals.Pharmacy practiceArticle
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesPhysicians 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.
designFollowing 13 key informant interviews and eight cognitive interviews a survey questionnaire was developed.
participantsA random sample of 534 physicians, stratified by physician group (geriatricians, family physicians, emergency physicians) was selected from a national medical directory.
settingUsing 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.
interventionsThe intervention was a $10 Tim Hortons gift card given to half of the physicians who were randomly allocated to receive the incentive.
results265 (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).
conclusionsOur 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.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.