Accuracy of responses from postal surveys about continuing medical education and information behavior: experiences from a survey among German diabetologists.

Sven Trelle

doi:10.1186/1472-6963-2-15

Abstract

BackgroundPostal surveys are a popular instrument for studies about continuing medical education habits. But little is known about the accuracy of responses in such surveys. The objective of this study was to quantify the magnitude of inaccurate responses in a postal survey among physicians.MethodsA sub-analysis of a questionnaire about continuing medical education habits and information management was performed. The five variables used for the quantitative analysis are based on a question about the knowledge of a fictitious technical term and on inconsistencies in contingency tables of answers to logically connected questions.ResultsResponse rate was 52%. Non-response bias is possible but seems not very likely since an association between demographic variables and inconsistent responses could not be found. About 10% of responses were inaccurate according to the definition.ConclusionIt was shown that a sub-analysis of a questionnaire makes a quantification of inaccurate responses in postal surveys possible. This sub-analysis revealed that a notable portion of responses in a postal survey about continuing medical education habits and information management was inaccurate.

Highlights

Postal surveys are a popular instrument for studies about continuing medical education habits
Postal questionnaire surveys of physicians are a popular instrument to gather information [1,2]. They are often used for studies about continuing-medical education (CME) habits and information management since they are relatively inexpensive and easy to handle [2]
A MEDLINE search revealed only articles dealing with the accuracy of statements by physicians in general, but there were no satisfactory results for articles about potential in

Summary

Introduction

Postal surveys are a popular instrument for studies about continuing medical education habits. Postal questionnaire surveys of physicians are a popular instrument to gather information [1,2]. They are often used for studies about continuing-medical education (CME) habits and information management since they are relatively inexpensive and easy to handle [2]. A major problem of such surveys is the low response rate [1] Besides this non-response bias [3,4] there are a number of other factors which restrict conclusions from postal surveys. Alreck and Settle for example describe ten such sources of response bias [5] It seems that there are even more biases. A MEDLINE search revealed only articles dealing with the accuracy of statements by physicians in general, but there were no satisfactory results for articles about potential in-

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