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Australian Journal of Primary Health Australian Journal of Primary Health Society
The issues influencing community health services and primary health care
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Recruiting general practitioners as participants for qualitative and experimental primary care studies in Australia

Shannon McKinn A B , Carissa Bonner A B , Jesse Jansen A B and Kirsten McCaffery A B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Screening and Test Evaluation Program (STEP), School of Public Health, Edward Ford Building (A27), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

B Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Decision-making (CeMPED), Edward Ford Building (A27), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: kirsten.mccaffery@sydney.edu.au

Australian Journal of Primary Health 21(3) 354-359 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY14068
Submitted: 18 April 2014  Accepted: 1 July 2014   Published: 30 July 2014

Abstract

Recruiting general practitioners (GPs) for participation in primary care research is vitally important, but it can be very difficult for researchers to engage time-poor GPs. This paper describes six different strategies used by a research team recruiting Australian GPs for three qualitative interview studies and one experimental study, and reports the response rates and costs incurred. Strategies included: (1) mailed invitations via Divisions of General Practice; (2) electronic newsletters; (3) combining mailed invitations and newsletter; (4) in-person recruitment at GP conferences; (5) conference satchel inserts; and (6) combining in-person recruitment and satchel inserts. Response rates ranged from 0 (newsletter) to 30% (in-person recruitment). Recruitment costs per participant ranged from A$83 (in-person recruitment) to A$232 (satchel inserts). Mailed invitations can be viable for qualitative studies, especially when free/low-cost mailing lists are used, if the response rate is less important. In-person recruitment at GP conferences can be effective for short quantitative studies, where a higher response rate is important. Newsletters and conference satchel inserts were expensive and ineffective.

Additional keywords: cardiovascular disease, general practice, study methods, study recruitment.


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