Facilitators and Barriers to Survey Participation by Physicians

Abstract

Surveys of health care providers are a well-established tool for obtaining information about the organization and delivery of care as well as about provider knowledge and attitudes. However, declining response rates to provider surveys are a widely acknowledged concern. Although a number of studies have identified specific methods for increasing response rates in health care provider-and particularly physician-surveys, few have addressed the more fundamental question of what motivates or deters providers from survey participation. We briefly review theoretical perspectives concerning why providers choose to participate in surveys, and what is known about facilitators and barriers to participation. We then describe several research designs (i.e., focus groups, key informant interviews, diary and office workflow studies, surveying the surveyors, and follow-back studies of respondents/nonrespondents) for obtaining empirical data on facilitators and barriers to survey participation, particularly by physicians and medical groups. Researchers must begin to build an evidence base for understanding provider decisions concerning survey participation.

Attitudes about Low-Dose Computed Tomography Screening for Lung Cancer: A Survey of American Thoracic Society Clinicians

“…First, our response rate was low, which is unfortunately consistent with the trend of decreasing response rates to physician surveys and email surveys in particular (8). Thus, we cannot be certain that respondents represent the views of all clinicians, or even all ATS clinician members.…”

Stem cells: knowledge and attitude among health care providers in Qassim region, KSA

“…First, the lower response rate could have resulted in a selection bias favoring health care providers among respondents who are more knowledgeable and motivated on topics of stem cells. Respondents are likely to be motivated to answer a survey if they are interested and knowledgeable in a topic (Klabunde et al, 2013). Another limitation of this study is that we surveyed health care providers affiliated to Qassim region.…”

Effect of a Drug Allergy Educational Program and Antibiotic Prescribing Guideline on Inpatient Clinical Providers’ Antibiotic Prescribing Knowledge

“…Our overall survey response rate was consistent with previously published data surveying physicians and was as high or higher than previous surveys on drug allergy. 16,17,30,31 Based on prior data showing that successful guideline implementation is dependent on multiple implementation strategies, 32–35 we paired our guideline implementation with educational outreach.…”