A randomized trial of mail and email recruitment strategies for a physician survey on clinical trial accrual
Background Patient participation in cancer clinical trials is suboptimal. A challenge to capturing physicians’ insights about trials has been low response to surveys. We conducted a study using varying combinations of mail and email to recruit a nationally representative sample of medical, surgical,...
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| Vydáno v: | BMC medical research methodology Ročník 20; číslo 1; s. 123 - 7 |
|---|---|
| Hlavní autoři: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Médium: | Journal Article |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Vydáno: |
London
BioMed Central
19.05.2020
BioMed Central Ltd Springer Nature B.V BMC |
| Témata: | |
| ISSN: | 1471-2288, 1471-2288 |
| On-line přístup: | Získat plný text |
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| Shrnutí: | Background
Patient participation in cancer clinical trials is suboptimal. A challenge to capturing physicians’ insights about trials has been low response to surveys. We conducted a study using varying combinations of mail and email to recruit a nationally representative sample of medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists to complete a survey on trial accrual.
Methods
We randomly assigned eligible physicians identified from the American Medical Association MasterFile (
n
= 13,251) to mail- or email-based recruitment strategies.
Mail-based recruitmen
t included a survey packet with: (1) cover letter describing the survey and inviting participation; (2) paper copy of the survey and postage-paid return envelope; and (3) a web link for completing the survey online.
Email-based recruitment
included an e-mail describing the survey and inviting participation, along with the web link to the survey, and a reminder postcard 2 weeks later.
Results
Response was higher for mail-based (11.8, 95% CI 11.0–12.6%) vs. email-based (4.5, 95% CI 4.0–5.0%) recruitment. In
email-based recruitment
, only one-quarter of recipients opened the email, and even fewer clicked on the link to complete the survey. Most physicians in
mail-based recruitment
responded after the first invitation (362 of 770 responders, 47.0%). A higher proportion of responders vs. non-responders were young (ages 25–44 years), men, and radiation or surgical (vs. medical) oncologists.
Conclusions
Most physicians assigned to
mail-based recruitment
actually completed the survey online via the link provided in the cover letter, and those in
email-based recruitment
did not respond until they received a reminder postcard by mail. Providing the option to return a paper survey or complete it online may have further increased participation in the
mail-based
group
,
and future studies should examine how combinations of delivery mode and return options affect physicians’ response to surveys. |
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| Bibliografie: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 content type line 14 ObjectType-Feature-3 ObjectType-Evidence Based Healthcare-1 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Undefined-3 |
| ISSN: | 1471-2288 1471-2288 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12874-020-01014-x |