Two colours pale: a randomised trial to test the differential effectiveness of sending mail printed on white or yellow paper to promote GP interest in participating in research.

Two colours pale: a randomised trial to test the differential effectiveness of sending mail printed on white or yellow paper on the proportion of GPs registering interest in participating in research.

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12611000259943

Acronym

Enrollment

2500

Registered

2011-03-09

Start date

2011-03-14

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

We aim to approach 2,500 randomly selected GPs. GPs will receive a cover letter and form advising GPs return the form indicating their interest in receiving further information about an ongoing education program. We propose that half are randomised to receive the cover letter and form printed on white paper and half receive the cover letter and form printed on yellow paper. Based on results of a Cochrane systematic review, some studies evaluating the effect of yellow versus white paper indicate improved response amongst non-clinician samples. We wish to trial this easily administered and cheap response-aiding strategy in a clinician sample. Reference: Edwards PJ, Roberts I, Clarke MJ, et al. Methods to increase response to postal and electronic questionnaires. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 3. Art. No.: MR000008. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.MR000008.pub4

Interventions

This study aims to test and evaluate a response-aiding strategy to facilitate recruitment for a randomised evaluation of an on-going education program (ACTRN12611000076976). A cover letter advising GPs of an opportunity to participate in an education program and a form allowing GPs to register their interest in receiving further information about the program will be printed on either white or pale yellow paper. The cover letter and form will be otherwise identical and will be sent to GPs via standard post, enclosed in an envelope identifying the sender as the University of New South Wales. It is anticipated that all letters will be mailed on the same day. We will assess outcomes eight weeks' from the date of the mail-out.

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Educational / counselling / training

Masking

Blinded (masking used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

GPs known to be in active practice, as indicated on a national data-base of GP contact details held by AMPCO (www.ampco.com.au) who have been randomly selected by AMPCO on behalf of the researchers.

Exclusion criteria

GPs who have previously been contacted to take part in the educational program will not form the "study base" from which the 2,500 GPs will be randomly selected. Contact details of up 92 GPs currently participating in another education program will be removed if they appear in the list of the 2,500 randomly selected GPs. GPs whose mail is "returned to sender" for the purposes of secondary outcome 1.

Outcome results