Recruiting family physicians as participants in research

Obtaining the voluntary participation of family physicians in quality of care research is a major problem in family practice research. An innovative approach was therefore required to recruit 120 randomly selected family physicians in southern Ontario in a quality of care study by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. A network of physician recruiters oriented to the study was organized for each district. This recruitment method resulted in an 84.5% participation rate. The relationship of these physician recruiters to the candidate and the method of approach were important factors in the enrolment process: the highest participation rate (95%) was obtained when the recruiters were friends of the candidate and when a personal meeting was arranged (91%). Recruiters were given an information package to help them in the recruitment process and rated the most useful items as follows: a policy statement about confidentiality, a description of the study and reprints of a published feasibility study. These results illustrate that cooperation in research in family physicians' offices can become a reality.