Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27495186›Full record

Trial reportBMC medical research methodology2016

The effect of a monetary incentive for administrative assistants on the survey response rate: a randomized controlled trial.

Arnav Agarwal, Dany Raad, Victor Kairouz, John Fudyma, Anne B Curtis, Holger J Schünemann, Elie A Akl

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC medical research methodology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Methods to increase response to postal and electronic questionnaires.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Arnav AgarwalDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, CRL-209, 1280 Main St. West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.
Dany RaadDepartment of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, 14214, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Victor KairouzDepartment of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, 14214, Buffalo, NY, USA.
John FudymaDepartment of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, 14214, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Anne B CurtisDepartment of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, 14214, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Holger J SchünemannDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, CRL-209, 1280 Main St. West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.
Elie A AklDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, CRL-209, 1280 Main St. West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada. ea32@aub.edu.lb.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is sufficient evidence that monetary incentives are effective in increasing survey response rates in the general population as well as with physicians. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a monetary incentive intended for administrative assistants on the survey response rate of physicians in leadership positions.

methodsThis was an ancillary study to a national survey of chairs of academic Departments of Medicine in the United States about measuring faculty productivity. We randomized survey participants to receive or not receive a $5 gift card enclosed in the survey package. The cover letter explained that the gift card was intended for the administrative assistants as a "thank you for their time." We compared the response rates between the 2 study arms using the Chi-square test.

resultsOut of 152 participants to whom survey packages were mailed to, a total of 78 responses were received (51 % response rate). The response rates were 59 % in the incentive arm and 46 % in the no incentive arm. The relative effect of the incentive compared to no monetary incentive was borderline statistically significant (relative risk (RR) = 1.36, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.99 to 1.87; p = 0.055).

conclusionMonetary incentives intended for administrative assistants likely increase the response rate of physicians in leadership positions.

Indexed as

MotivationAllied Health PersonnelHealth Care SurveysHumansPhysiciansReimbursement Mechanisms

Identifiers

PMID27495186
PMCPMC4975879

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.