Reducing questionnaire length did not improve physician response rate: a randomized trial

被引：12
作者：
Bolt, Eva E. [1 ,2 ]
van der Heide, Agnes [3 ]
Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Bregje D. [1 ,2 ]
机构：
[1] Vrije Univ Amsterdam, Med Ctr, Dept Publ & Occupat Hlth, NL-1081 BT Amsterdam, Netherlands
[2] Vrije Univ Amsterdam, VUmc Expertise Ctr Palliat Care, EMGO Inst Hlth & Care Res, NL-1081 BT Amsterdam, Netherlands
[3] Univ Med Ctr Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, Dept Publ Hlth, NL-3000 CA Rotterdam, Netherlands
来源：
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY | 2014年 / 67卷 / 04期
关键词：
Questionnaire design; Data collection; Health-care surveys; Physician surveys; Response rate; Questionnaire length; HEALTH-CARE PROFESSIONALS; NETHERLANDS; MAIL;
D O I：
10.1016/j.jclinepi.2013.09.012
中图分类号：
R19 [保健组织与事业（卫生事业管理）];
学科分类号：
摘要：
Objectives: To examine the effect of reducing questionnaire length on the response rate in a physician survey. Study Design and Setting: A postal four double-page questionnaire on end-of-life decision making was sent to a random sample of 1,100 general practitioners, 400 elderly care physicians, and 500 medical specialists. Another random sample of 500 medical specialists received a shorter questionnaire of two double pages. After 3 months and one reminder, all nonresponding physicians received an even shorter questionnaire of one double page. Results: Total response was 64% (1,456 of 2,269 eligible respondents). Response rate of medical specialists for the four double-page questionnaire was equal to that of the two double-page questionnaire (190 and 191 questionnaires were returned, respectively). The total response rate increased from 53% to 64% after sending a short one double-page questionnaire (1,203-1,456 respondents). Conclusion: The results of our study suggest that reducing the length of a long questionnaire in a physician survey does not necessarily improve response rate. To improve response rate and gather more information, researchers could decide to send a drastically shortened version of the questionnaire to nonresponders. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码：477 / 481
页数：5
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