Nakai, YukieMilgrom, PeterYoshida, ToshikoIshihara, ChikakoShimono, Tsutomu2010-04-212010-04-212005Nakai Y, Milgrom P, Yoshida T, Ishihara C, Shimono T. Evaluation of the Total Design Method in a survey of Japanese dentists. BMC Medical Research Methodology. 2005;5(1):27.10.1186/1471-2288-5-27http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/5/27http://hdl.handle.net/1773/15792Background: This study assessed the application of the Total Design Method (TDM) in a mail survey of Japanese dentists. The TDM was chosen because survey response rates in Japan are unacceptably low and the TDM had previously been used in a general population survey. Methods: Four hundred and seventy eight dentist members of the Okayama Medical and Dental Practitioner's Association were surveyed. The nine-page, 27-item questionnaire covered dentist job satisfaction, physical practice, and dentist and patient characteristics. Respondents to the first mailing or the one-week follow-up postcard were defined as early responders; others who responded were late responders. Responder bias was assessed by examining age, gender and training. Results: The overall response rate was 46.7% (223/478). The response rates by follow-up mailing were, 18% after the first mailing, 35.4% after the follow-up postcard, 42.3% after the second mailing, and 46.7% after the third mailing. Respondents did not differ from non-respondents in age or gender, nor were there differences between early and late responders. Conclusion: The application of TDM in this survey of Japanese dentists produced lower rates of response than expected from previous Japanese and US studies.en-USArticle