There is no association between a measure of clinical care and the response rate of GPs to postal surveys: A methodological study

Figures & data

Table I. Association of practice characteristics with survey response, n (%). QOF, Quality Outcomes Framework. Higher decile indicates higher level of achievement.

	PROG-RES (Overall response rate: 31%)		SCIP (Overall response rate: 41%)
QOF score decile (range PROG-RES; Range SCIP)	Responders	Non- responders	Responders	Non- responders
1 (248–932; 462–934)	54 (22)	197 (78)	76 (41)	109 (59)
2 (933–964; 935–959)	78 (30)	179 (70)	79 (43)	105 (57)
3 (965–978; 960–973)	78 (30)	183 (70)	70 (38)	115 (62)
4 (979–985; 974–981)	73 (27)	201 (73)	71 (39)	113 (61)
5 (986–989; 982–987)	70 (33)	144 (67)	84 (45)	102 (55)
6 (990–992; 988–991)	77 (32)	166 (68)	92 (50)	91 (50)
7 (993–995; 992–994)	103 (35)	194 (65)	82 (44)	103 (56)
8 (996–997; 995–996)	75 (29)	182 (71)	71 (39)	113 (61)
9 (998–999; 997–998)	80 (38)	131 (62)	74 (40)	111 (60)
10 (1000–1000; 999–1000)	86 (37)	149 (63)	69 (38)	115 (63)
Number of partners
≤ 1^a	144 (24)	449 (76)	90 (42)	123 (58)
2	114 (23)	375 (77)	93 (43)	124 (57)
3	121 (34)	238 (66)	109 (39)	168 (61)
4	117 (34)	224 (66)	122 (41)	173 (59)
5	102 (36)	185 (64)	129 (41)	188 (59)
6+	176 (41)	255 (59)	279 (41)	402 (59)
Practice list size (Mean SD)	7190 (4286)	6329 (3786)	8565 (4551)	8714 (4530)

Null hypothesis for all tests: no association with response.

PROG-RES, QOF χ² = 23.99, P = 0.004; number of partners χ² = 51.28, P < 0.001; region χ² = 19.21, P = 0.014; list size t = –5.04, P < 0.001

Sickness certification, QOF χ² = 11.28, P = 0.257; number of partners χ² = 0.78, P = 0.978; region χ² = 6.97, P = 0.540; list size t = 0.71, P = 0.476.

^aOne practice was recorded in the Binley's database as having no partners.

Table II. Adjusted association of practice characteristics with survey response: Results from a multivariable logistic regression model. QOF, Quality Outcomes Framework. Higher decile indicates higher level of achievement. Odds ratio for practice list sizes refers to increase in odds for every 1000 patients on the list.

	Odds ratio (95% CI)
QOF score decile	PROG-RES	SCIP
1	1	1
2	1.45 (0.96, 2.18)	1.07 (0.70, 1.64)
3	1.29 (0.86, 1.95)	0.89 (0.58, 1.37)
4	1.06 (0.70, 1.61)	0.91 (0.59, 1.39)
5	1.42 (0.93, 2.18)	1.18 (0.77, 1.82)
6	1.28 (0.84, 1.95)	1.47 (0.96, 2.25)
7	1.42 (0.95, 2.13)	1.16 (0.75, 1.75)
8	1.09 (0.72, 1.66)	0.89 (0.57, 1.34)
9	1.52 (0.98, 2.34)	0.96 (0.62, 1.47)
10	1.47 (0.97, 2.25)	0.87 (0.56, 1.34)
Number of partners
≤ 1	1	1
2	0.90 (0.67, 1.20)	1.01 (0.67, 1.51)
3	1.47 (1.07, 2.02)	0.80 (0.53, 1.19)
4	1.48 (1.04, 2.10)	0.99 (0.65, 1.50)
5	1.57 (1.05, 2.34)	0.95 (0.62, 1.46)
6 +	1.96 (1.25, 3.06)	1.05 (0.66, 1.67)
Practice list size	1.00 (0.96, 1.04)	0.99 (0.95, 1.02)

CI, confidence interval; SD, standard deviation.

^aOne practice was recorded in the Binley's database as having no partners.