Shaw M J, Beebe T J, Jensen H L, Adlis S A
Park Nicollet Clinic, Department of Gastroenterology, Minneapolis, MN 55416, USA.
Health Serv Res. 2001 Feb;35(6):1339-46.
To assess the effect of incentive size on response rates, data quality, and cost in a digestive health status mail survey of a community sample of health plan enrollees.
DATA SOURCES/SETTING: The study population was selected from a database of enrollees in various health plans obligated to receive care at Park Nicollet Clinic-HealthSystem Minnesota, a large, multispecialty group in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the nearby suburbs.
A total of 1,800 HealthSystem Minnesota enrollees were randomly assigned to receive a survey with an incentive of $5 or $2. The response rates for each incentive level were determined. Data quality, as indicated by item nonresponse and scale scores, was measured. Total cost and cost per completed survey were calculated.
The response rate among enrollees receiving $5 (74.3 percent) was significantly higher than among those receiving $2 (67.4 percent); differences were more pronounced in the first wave of data collection. Data quality did not differ between the two incentive groups. The total cost per completed survey was higher in the $5 condition than in the $2 condition.
A $5 incentive resulted in a higher response rate among a community patient sample with one mailing than did a $2 incentive. However, the response rates in the $2 condition approached the level of the $5 incentive, and costs were significantly lower when the full follow-up protocol was completed. Response rates were marginally increased by follow-up phone calls. The incentive level did not influence data quality. The results suggest if a survey budget is limited and a timeline is not critical, a $2 incentive provides an affordable means of increasing participation.
在一项针对健康计划参保者社区样本的消化健康状况邮寄调查中，评估激励金额对回复率、数据质量和成本的影响。
数据来源/背景：研究人群选自明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯市及附近郊区的大型多专科集团——帕克·尼科莱特诊所 - 健康系统明尼苏达的各种健康计划参保者数据库。
总共1800名明尼苏达健康系统的参保者被随机分配接受5美元或2美元激励的调查。确定了每个激励水平的回复率。测量了以项目无回答和量表分数表示的数据质量。计算了总成本和每份完成调查的成本。
接受5美元激励的参保者的回复率（74.3%）显著高于接受2美元激励的参保者（67.4%）；在第一波数据收集时差异更为明显。两个激励组的数据质量没有差异。5美元条件下每份完成调查的总成本高于2美元条件下的。
对于社区患者样本，一次邮寄时5美元的激励比2美元的激励导致更高的回复率。然而，2美元条件下的回复率接近5美元激励的水平，并且在完成完整的随访方案时成本显著更低。随访电话略微提高了回复率。激励水平不影响数据质量。结果表明，如果调查预算有限且时间线不关键，2美元的激励提供了一种增加参与度的经济实惠的方式。
