Assessing the variation in workload among general practitioners in urban and rural areas: An analysis based on SMS time sampling data.

Objective: An important reason why general practitioners (GPs) are less inclined to work in rural areas is a perception of a higher workload. This study assesses the differences in the workloads of GPs in rural and urban areas. We used two definitions of rurality, one based on the number of addresses per square kilometre, and a second defined by the expected decline in population.

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

Background: 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.

Methods: A Short Message Service (SMS) application was developed which sent messages at random to GPs during their working week.

Age-related differences in working hours among male and female GPs: an SMS-based time use study.

Background: In several countries, the number of hours worked by general practitioners (GPs) has decreased, raising concern about current and impending workforce shortages. This shorter working week has been ascribed both to the feminisation of the workforce and to a younger generation of GPs who prefer more flexible working arrangements. There is, however, limited insight into how the impact of these determinants interact.

Assessing the precision of a time-sampling-based study among GPs: balancing sample size and measurement frequency.

Background: Our research is based on a technique for time sampling, an innovative method for measuring the working hours of Dutch general practitioners (GPs), which was deployed in an earlier study. In this study, 1051 GPs were questioned about their activities in real time by sending them one SMS text message every 3 h during 1 week. The required sample size for this study is important for health workforce planners to know if they want to apply this method to target groups who are hard to reach or if fewer resources are available.