.

Trends in User Preferences for Completing Practice Based Research Network Surveys:

A Report from PRIME Net Philip J. Kroth, MD, MS1, Elvan Daniels, MD3, Robert Leverence, MD1,

Laurie McPherson, MSCIS1, Wilson Pace, MD2, Robert Rhyne, MD1, and Robert Williams, MD1

1The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, for RIOS Net, 2The University of Colorado Health

Sciences Center, Denver, CO, for CaReNet, 3The Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, for SERCNAbstractA common activity of practiced-based research networks (PBRN’s) is survey research. Since the arrival of the World Wide Web, more and more surveys are becoming web-based, taking advantage of the potential for decreased costs and faster turn-around time over traditional postal/paper surveys. One of the greatest challenges in performing survey research has always been obtaining adequate response rates. Despite the increasing national access to the Internet, there is little evidence of the effectiveness of PBRN web-based surveys versus more traditional paper methods. We report here the response rates for a survey performed through PRIME Net, a collaboration of three different PBRN’s, first using the web and then using a paper version mailed to web-non-responders.

Setting PRIME Net (Primary Care Multiethnic Network) is a collaboration between three different PBRNS:

MethodsPRIME Net conducted a survey of a sampling of its membership on clinician attitudes toward the screening and treatment of Hepatitis C. The 28-question survey was available in both web-based and paper form. Email solicitations contained a link to the web-based survey and also a link to a PDF version of the survey that could be printed out and either mailed or faxed back. Non-responders were sent periodic reminder emails and a post card. Paper survey solicitations included a link to the web-based version of the survey as well as a postage paid return envelope. Individual network listserves were used to email periodic reminders to non-responders. The graphic below illustrates the sequence of email, paper and post card solicitations/reminders:

Results

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

This work is supported in part through a contract with the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: HHSN268200425211C

RIOS Net SERCN CaReNet Total

Total Number of Solicitations 213 97 343 653

Valid online respondents 112 19 164 295

Valid paper respondents 36 11 43 90

Valid fax respondents 1 0 1 2

Total paper/fax respondents 37 11 44 92

Total all respondents 149 30 208 387

% Respondents Paper 25% 37% 21% 24%

% Respondents Web 75% 63% 79% 76%

Web vs. Paper Responses

0

5

10

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6

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2/1

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Respondent Date

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Web Paper

Email 1

Email 2

Email 3

Email 4Email 5

Paper 1

Paper 2Postcard

These data suggest that PBRN’s who wish to optimize response rates to member web-based surveys should consider providing a paper option after providing a web-based opportunity.

Surveys in paper form are still preferred by approximately one quarter of the PBRN members from our three network collaborative as a whole.

Providing a paper option after a web-based survey may increase the response rate by 25-67% as shown here.

PBRN’s with more mateur IT infrastructure may tend to have higher web-based response rates than those with less mature IT infrastructure.

Because web-based surveys are less costly to operationalize, a hybrid approach offering users first electronic and then paper may be a reasonable compromise between high response rate and cost.

To a great extent, PBRN members do not prefer to return results of a paper survey via fax. Printable/faxable PDF version were not preferred (only two faxed back.)

Post card reminders may not be of significant benefit to increase response rate when using a web first -- paper second hybrid survey design.

Multiple email solicitations, although potentially annoying, do in fact seem to elicit additional responses, although with decreasing effectiveness.

The response rate to paper solicitations is more than a week longer than to email solicitations.

Colorado Research Network (CaReNet)

Research Involving Outpatient Settings Network (RIOS Net)

Southeast Regional Clinicians' Network (SERCN)

Ad-Hoc Promotion