Table 1

Sample sizes of frequent and infrequent attenders, censoring and response rates to questionnaire.

Frequent attendersInfrequent attenders
Primary sample21521478
Died or changed addressa76
Eligible sample1932b1472
No addressc97
Questionnaires sent to patients19231465
Responses from patients1423 (74.0%)1103 (74.3%)
Number of valid questionnaires1222 (63.5%)989 (67.5%)
  • a Just before or after the questionnaire was sent out.

  • b For 103 frequent attenders the GP stated that the patient should not be sent a questionnaire. Thirteen GPs did not want to continue after the first round, and the 117 sampled frequent attenders were therefore excluded.

  • c Unknown/incorrect address in the Centralised Civil Register.