Getting physicians to open the survey: Little evidence that an envelope teaser increases response rates

Jeanette Y. Ziegenfuss, Kelly Burmeister, Katherine M. James, Lindsey Haas, Jon C. Tilburt, Timothy J. Beebe

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Physician surveys are an important tool to assess attitudes, beliefs and self-reported behaviors of this policy relevant group. In order for a physician to respond to a mailed survey, they must first open the envelope. While there is some evidence that package elements can impact physician response rates, the impact of an envelope teaser is unknown. Here we assess this by testing the impact of adding a brightly colored "$25 incentive" sticker to the outside of an envelope on response rates and nonresponse bias in a survey of physicians. Methods. In the second mailing of a survey assessing physicians' moral beliefs and views on controversial health care topics, initial nonrespondents were randomly assigned to receive a survey in an envelope with a colored "$25 incentive" sticker (teaser group) or an envelope without a sticker (control group). Response rates were compared between the teaser and control groups overall and by age, gender, region of the United States, specialty and years in practice. Nonresponse bias was assessed by comparing the demographic composition of the respondents to the nonrespondents in the experimental and control condition. Results: No significant differences in response rates were observed between the experimental and control conditions overall (p = 0.38) or after stratifying by age, gender, region, or practice type. Within the teaser condition, there was some variation in response rate by years since graduation. There was no independent effect of the teaser on response when simultaneously controlling for demographic characteristics (OR = 0.875, p = 0.4112). Conclusions: Neither response rates nor nonresponse bias were impacted by the use of an envelope teaser in a survey of physicians in the United States.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number41
JournalBMC Medical Research Methodology
Volume12
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This publication was made possible by the Mayo Clinic Department of Medicine funding to Dr. Tilburt and from Grant Number 1 KL2 RR024151 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research.

Keywords

  • Physician surveys
  • Response rates
  • Survey methods

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