Response rates for surveys of chiropractors

Background: Survey response rates may vary by type of practitioner studied and may have declined over time. Response rates for surveys of complementary practitioners have not been studied. Objective: To describe the response rates in published surveys of chiropractors and explore for secular trends in response rates and for methodologic and geographic correlates of response rates. Methods: Secondary analysis of data extracted from published English language reports of surveys of chiropractors. Response rates were calculated as the total number of persons from whom a questionnaire was returned divided by the total number of persons who were sent a questionnaire. Results: Sixty-two surveys represented by 79 articles published in the interval 1980 to 2000 met inclusion criteria for analysis. We were able to calculate a response rate for 46 postal surveys. The mean response rate was 52.7%. There was no significant association between geographic setting and response rate, and there was no evidence of secular trend in response rates. None of the studies employed incentives. The strongest predictor of response rate was number of contacts with the target population. Conclusion: Response rates for surveys of chiropractors are similar to those observed for surveys of medical doctors. The key to obtaining high response rates is the use of evidence-based methods in design and conduct of the surveys.