Managing an online survey about influenza vaccination in primary healthcare workers

Abstract

Online surveys are increasingly used due to their speed and efficiency. The aim of this study was to analyze factors that may have contributed to the quality and speed of response of an online survey on influenza vaccination in primary healthcare workers. A multicenter study including family physicians , nurses and pediatricians from primary healthcare teams from seven Spanish Autono mous Communities was designed. The centers were selected by simple random sampling. The su rvey remained active and accessible for 56 days and four reminders were sent. The odds ra tios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to assess the associati on of sociodemographic variables and responding to the survey before the s econd reminder. Complete, validated information was obtained from 1965 primary healthcare workers. The total response rate was 36.2%. More nurses (46.3%) responded before the second reminder a nd more family physici ans (52.8%) after the second reminder. The adjusted OR shows that family physicians responded later (AOR 1.46, 95% CI 1.2-1.8) than nurses. The responses obtaine d in the first 24 h afte r the initial sending and the reminders accounted for 41.7% of the completed surveys, indicating the importance of reminders.