E-mail invitations to general practitioners were as effective as postal invitations and were more efficient

TY - JOUR

T1 - E-mail invitations to general practitioners were as effective as postal invitations and were more efficient

AU - Treweek, Shaun

AU - Barnett, Karen

AU - MacLennan, Graeme

AU - Bonetti, Debbie

AU - Eccles, Martin P.

AU - Francis, Jill J.

AU - Jones, Claire

AU - Pitts, Nigel B.

AU - Ricketts, Ian W.

AU - Weal, Mark

AU - Sullivan, Frank

N1 - Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - Objective: To evaluate which of two invitation methods, e-mail or post, was most effective at recruiting general practitioners (GPs) to an online trial. Study Design and Setting: Randomized controlled trial. Participants were GPs in Scotland, United Kingdom. Results: Two hundred and seventy GPs were recruited. Using e-mail did not improve recruitment (risk difference = 0.7% [95% confidence interval -2.7% to 4.1%]). E-mail was, however, simpler to use and cheaper, costing £3.20 per recruit compared with £15.69 for postal invitations. Reminders increased recruitment by around 4% for each reminder sent for both invitation methods. Conclusions: In the Scottish context, inviting GPs to take part in an online trial by e-mail does not adversely affect recruitment and is logistically easier and cheaper than using postal invitations.

AB - Objective: To evaluate which of two invitation methods, e-mail or post, was most effective at recruiting general practitioners (GPs) to an online trial. Study Design and Setting: Randomized controlled trial. Participants were GPs in Scotland, United Kingdom. Results: Two hundred and seventy GPs were recruited. Using e-mail did not improve recruitment (risk difference = 0.7% [95% confidence interval -2.7% to 4.1%]). E-mail was, however, simpler to use and cheaper, costing £3.20 per recruit compared with £15.69 for postal invitations. Reminders increased recruitment by around 4% for each reminder sent for both invitation methods. Conclusions: In the Scottish context, inviting GPs to take part in an online trial by e-mail does not adversely affect recruitment and is logistically easier and cheaper than using postal invitations.

KW - Recruitment

KW - Randomized controlled trials

KW - E-mail

KW - Postal

KW - Reminders

KW - Primary care

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84861637148

U2 - 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2011.11.010

DO - 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2011.11.010

M3 - Article

C2 - 22306007

SN - 0895-4356

VL - 86

SP - 793

EP - 797

JO - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology

JF - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology

IS - 7

ER -