Title
Recruitment and retention of physicians for primary care research
Abstract
The primary objective of this report is to examine factors associated with recruitment of physicians in community-based primary care research. Reported results are based on an observational study of physician recruitment efforts undertaken in a randomized controlled trial designed to improve primary care physicians' cancer screening and counseling activities. The Partners for Prevention project was a statewide randomized controlled trial of primary care physicians selected from the state of Colorado. Two-hundred and ten eligible internal medicine and family medicine practices in both rural and urban community settings of the state of Colorado were selected into this study and a sentinel physician was chosen to represent each practice. Only 6% (13/210) of recruited practices initially declined to participate in the study, but the total refusal rate had reached 30% (59/210) by the time the intervention was implemented five months later. Study participants (n = 136) were younger (mean age 45.7 vs. 50.0, p = 0.008) and more often located in a rural area (46% vs. 31%, p = 0.04) than decliners (n = 59), but there was no association with gender of the physician (87% for females vs. 95% for males, p = 0.13). Participants were more often family practice physicians by training rather than internists (75% vs. 56%, p = 0.008), whereas there was no difference in participation rates by practice type (solo versus group, 60% vs. 64%, p = 0.52). Differences in demographic, geographic, and training characteristics between trial participants and decliners suggest the potential for better targeting of recruitment efforts. Viable strategies for recruiting community-based primary care practices to research studies are proposed.
Department(s)
Psychology
Document Type
Article
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014598332211
Keywords
Physician recruitment, Physician retention, Primary care research, Study participation commitment
Publication Date
4-1-2002
Recommended Citation
Shelton, Brent J., James L. Wofford, Carol A. Gosselink, Maureen W. McClatchey, Karen Brekke, Colleen Conry, Pamela Wolfe, and Stuart J. Cohen. "Recruitment and retention of physicians for primary care research." Journal of community health 27, no. 2 (2002): 79-89.
Journal Title
Journal of Community Health
