Abstract

Surveys originating from universities appear to have higher response rates than those from commercial sources. In light of the growing scrutiny placed on physician-industry relations, the present study aimed to determine the impact of the pharmaceutical industry versus university sponsorship on response to a postal survey completed by Canadian hepatitis C virus (HCV) care providers. In the present controlled trial, 229 physicians and nurses involved in HCV treatment were randomly assigned to receive a survey with sponsorship from a pharmaceutical company or university. The primary outcome was the proportion of completed surveys returned. The secondary outcomes included the response rate after the first mailing and the number of days taken to respond. One hundred fifteen participants were randomly assigned to receive the pharmaceutical industry survey and 114 were assigned to receive the university survey. The final response rate was 72.9% (167 of 229), which did not differ between the industry and university groups (RR=0.91; 95% CI 0.78 to 1.07). Nurses (OR=2.20; 95% CI 1.08 to 4.48) and participants from an academic centre (OR=3.14; 95% CI 1.64 to 6.00) were more likely to respond. The response rate after the first mailing (RR=0.85; 95% CI 0.68 to 1.07) and the median number of days taken to respond (21 days in both groups; P=0.20) did not differ between the industry and university groups. Pharmaceutical industry sponsorship does not appear to negatively impact response rates to a postal survey completed by Canadian HCV care providers.

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.