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SMS text messaging to measure working time: the design of a time use study among general practitioners

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Health Services Research, February 2018
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Title
SMS text messaging to measure working time: the design of a time use study among general practitioners
Published in
BMC Health Services Research, February 2018
DOI 10.1186/s12913-018-2926-z
Pubmed ID
Authors

Daniël van Hassel, Lud van der Velden, Dinny de Bakker, Ronald Batenburg

Abstract

Measuring the working hours of general practitioners (GPs) is an important but complex task due to the effects of bias related to self-reporting, recall, and stress. In this paper we describe the deployment, feasibility, and implementation of an innovative method for measuring, in real time, GPs' working time, plus the response to the study. A Short Message Service (SMS) application was developed which sent messages at random to GPs during their working week. Approximately nineteen GPs participated each week during a period of 57 weeks. The text messages asked if GPs were doing activities related to patients, directly, indirectly, or not at all, at the moment of sending. Participants were requested to reply by SMS. Approximately 27,000 messages were sent to 1051 GPs over more than one year. The SMS system was functioning 99.9% of the time. GPs replied to 94% of all the messages sent. Only a few participants dropped out of the study. The data was available in real time enabling the researchers to monitor the response and overall quality of the data each day. The SMS method offers advantages over other instruments of measurement because it allows a better response, ease of use and avoids recall bias. This makes it a feasible method to collect valid data about GPs working time.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 19 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 19 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 4 21%
Other 3 16%
Student > Postgraduate 2 11%
Student > Doctoral Student 1 5%
Student > Master 1 5%
Other 1 5%
Unknown 7 37%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 6 32%
Nursing and Health Professions 2 11%
Arts and Humanities 1 5%
Environmental Science 1 5%
Social Sciences 1 5%
Other 1 5%
Unknown 7 37%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 March 2018.
All research outputs
#21,264,673
of 23,881,329 outputs
Outputs from BMC Health Services Research
#7,442
of 7,949 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#295,666
of 333,050 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Health Services Research
#195
of 210 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,881,329 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,949 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 8.0. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 210 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.