The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #51275

Grant A. Ritter, PhD¹, Donald S. Shepard, PhD², Aaron Beaston-Blaakman, MSW, MPA³, Sharon Reif, PhD⁴, and Constance M. Horgan, ScD¹. (1) Schneider Institute for Health Policy, Heller Graduate School, Brandeis University, MS 035, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02454-9110, 781-736-3972, Ritter@Brandeis.edu, (2) Schneider Institute for Health Policy, Heller School, Brandeis University, MS 035, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02454-9110, (3) Schneider Institute for Health Policy, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, MS 035, Waltham, MA 02454-9110, (4) Schneider Institute for Health Policy, Heller School, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, MS 035, Waltham, MA 02454

In past government surveys, incentive payments have proven successful in increasing response rates when surveying hard-to-interview populations. In order to examine the impact of paying respondents in its own client follow-up survey, the Alcohol and Drug Services Study included an incentive substudy. The sample for this substudy, made up of outpatient non-methadone clients from the ADSS' main study (respondents paid $25) and three incentive cohorts (respondents paid $0,$10, or $35), was specifically created to determine the impact of varying incentives on such methodological issues as response rate, sample composition, and response quality. In the current analysis we ask whether payment of incentives can also be cost effective. Specifically, we ask whether incentives can actually increase response rate to the extent that average cost per respondent drops? To answer this question we associate cost information from the ADSS data collection with corresponding survey completion statistics to determine the impact of payment level and other important factors in modeling cost per survey respondent.

Learning Objectives:

• After the session, the participant should be able to describe the effects of incentive payments in a survey of hard-to-interview population such as substance abuse treatment clients on cost per respondent, and other covariates that affect the cost per respondent outcome.

Keywords: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.