Article Envelope Type and Response Rates in a Survey of Health Professionals

Surveys are an important tool for assessing physician and nursing profes-sionals ’ practice patterns and guideline adherence. Obtaining quality survey data consisting of low item and unit nonresponse remains a persistent chal-lenge in these populations. We tested the relative impact of two envelope types (padded vs. priority mail) on unit and item nonresponse in a survey of Minnesota health care workers. Respondents were randomized to receive a survey in one of two envelope types: a padded 8.500 1100 envelope or a similarly sized priority mail envelope. After the first mailing, the response rate was 53.9 % and did not differ across envelope conditions. Females and RNs were more likely to respond to the priority envelope than the padded envelope, but this finding did not hold in multivariate analysis. There was no difference in item nonresponse across the two envelope conditions. It may be that our two approaches were not enough to permeate the semi-porou