Abstract
Objective To compare the effectiveness of advance telephone and letter prompts in maximising response rates from a questionnaire to dentists.
Design Randomised controlled trial with Australian dental practitioners.
Intervention An advance telephone prompt using a standard script was compared with an advance letter. If the dentist was unavailable for the first call, one further attempt was made after which a message was left. Two reminder letters and a telephone reminder were made to non-responders. Responses were assessed at 15 and 65 days and a thank-you letter sent to dentists who returned completed questionnaires.
Outcome measures Response rate at day 15 and cumulative response at day 65.
Results The overall response rate was 83%. The response from the telephoned dentists was significantly higher than in the letter group (89% compared with 78%). Calculating numbers needed to treat (NNT; see Table 1) shows that you would need to contact 10 dentists by telephone to induce one additional dentist to respond, although you may need to speak to between five and 42.
Conclusions Significantly higher response rates can be achieved by making telephone contact in advance of a conventional questionnaire mail-out.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Rikard-Bell G, Ward J. Maximising response rates to a survey of dentists: a randomised trial. Austral Dent J 2000; 45:46–48
Address for reprints: Associate Professor Jeanette Ward, CSAHS Needs Assessment and Health Outcomes Unit, Locked Bag 8, Newtown, New South Wales 2042, Australia.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Locker, D. Telephone prompts improve questionnaire response rates. Evid Based Dent 2, 70 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ebd.6400050
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ebd.6400050