Untitled

Abstract

The primary objective of this report is to examine factors associated with recruitment of physicians in community-based primary care research. Reported results are based on an observational study of physician recruitment efforts undertaken in a randomized controlled trial designed to improve primary care physicians' cancer screening and counseling activities. The Partners for Prevention project was a statewide randomized controlled trial of primary care physicians selected from the state of Colorado. Two-hundred and ten eligible internal medicine and family medicine practices in both rural and urban community settings of the state of Colorado were selected into this study and a sentinel physician was chosen to represent each practice. Only 6% (13/210) of recruited practices initially declined to participate in the study, but the total refusal rate had reached 30% (59/210) by the time the intervention was implemented five months later. Study participants (n = 136) were younger (mean age 45.7 vs. 50.0, p = 0.008) and more often located in a rural area (46% vs. 31%, p = 0.04) than decliners (n = 59), but there was no association with gender of the physician (87% for females vs. 95% for males, p = 0.13). Participants were more often family practice physicians by training rather than internists (75% vs. 56%, p = 0.008), whereas there was no difference in participation rates by practice type (solo versus group, 60% vs. 64%, p = 0.52). Differences in demographic, geographic, and training characteristics between trial participants and decliners suggest the potential for better targeting of recruitment efforts. Viable strategies for recruiting community-based primary care practices to research studies are proposed.

Using the CollaboraKTion framework to report on primary care practice recruitment and data collection: costs and successes in a cross-sectional practice-based survey in British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, Canada

“…For example, in ON, higher per-practice honoraria were offered instead of tokens of appreciation for patients. In addition to the added costs of the intensive hands-on recruitment and survey administration strategies, such as community engagement, hiring peer recruiters, and hiring local highly qualified survey administrators, practices still expect to be compensated for their participation in research activities [ 13 , 14 , 48 ]. One place to decrease costs and potentially increase the recruitment rate of practices may be to administer patient surveys using electronic approaches and automation of patient recruitment.…”

Improving Physician Performance Through Internet-Based Interventions: Who Will Participate?

“…Participation in projects targeting physicians may also be affected by physician characteristics. Shelton et al studied recruitment and retention of community primary care practices in a study to improve cancer screening and counseling [ 7 ]. Their initial decline rate was only 6%, but the refusal rate reached 30% by the time the intervention was implemented.…”

High-performing physicians are more likely to participate in a research study: findings from a quality improvement study

“…There is evidence that family physicians who agree to participate in research are different from those who do not. Participants are more likely to be female, [3] younger, [3, 4] and graduates of local (as opposed to international) medical schools. [1] They are more likely to practice in rural areas, [4] under a salaried model, in larger practices, and to spend more hours per week providing direct patient care.…”

“…Participants are more likely to be female, [3] younger, [3, 4] and graduates of local (as opposed to international) medical schools. [1] They are more likely to practice in rural areas, [4] under a salaried model, in larger practices, and to spend more hours per week providing direct patient care. [5] It has long been suspected that low performing physicians are less likely to volunteer to participate in studies.…”