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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2022 Sep 24;22(1):249.
doi: 10.1186/s12874-022-01717-3.

A photograph of the researcher on the invitation letter did not affect the participation rate of a postal survey: a randomized study within a trial (SWAT)

Barbara Prediger  1 , Nadja Könsgen  2 , Ana-Mihaela Bora  2 , Anna Schlimbach  2 , Dawid Pieper  2   3   4
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

A photograph of the researcher on the invitation letter did not affect the participation rate of a postal survey: a randomized study within a trial (SWAT)

Barbara Prediger et al. BMC Med Res Methodol. .

Abstract

Objective: Participant recruitment is one of the main challenges in research. It is suggested that including researcher photographs might increase participation rates, but empirical evidence is lacking. This study within a trial (SWAT) aims to assess whether invitation letters including researcher photographs increase the participation rate in the context of a survey on medical second opinions.

Methods: Through 25 local register offices in Berlin and Brandenburg (Germany), we identified a random sample of 9990 persons. We randomly assigned our sample to the intervention group (IG) receiving an invitation letter with researcher photographs and control group (CG) receiving an invitation letter without photographs in a 1:1 ratio. Our primary outcome was the participation rate. Furthermore, we compared participants to non-participants' characteristics.

Results: Of 9990 invitations, 9797 could be delivered (IG: 4890, CG: 4907). Of these, 1349 (13.8%) participated. There were 682/4890 (13.9%) participants in the IG and 662/4907 (13.5%) in the CG with an odds ratio of 1.030 (95% confidence interval: 0.918-1.156). Additional analyses on non-participant characteristics did not show any differences.

Conclusion: We could not find any difference in the participation rates. Our study does not confirm the results of previous studies. The length of our questionnaire may have affected our results.

Trial registration: Queens University Belfast - SWAT Store, SWAT 104.

Keywords: Enhancement strategies; Participation rate; Personalization; Recruitment; Study within a trial.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Participant flow chart. *Defined by Eurostat. ‡It was not possible to determine if a questionnaire was successfully delivered to the recipient
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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