Jump to: Page Content, Site Navigation, Site Search,
You are seeing this message because your web browser does not support basic web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.
BMJ Online questionnaire: July 2007 |
This year’s questionnaire ran for a week from 13 July. It is the ninth such questionnaire we’ve conducted since 1997, except that all previous ones were conducted in November – the middle of the busiest academic term in the northern hemisphere. Midsummer coincides with lowest visitor numbers of the year (see: http://resources.bmj.com/bmj/about-bmj/visitor-statistics)
The difference in month is likely to be important and probably explains the proportional decline in numbers of medical student visitors (see especially Table 5).
Other trends
Estimated response rate to the questionnaire continues to fall (See Table 1)
The proportion of “lay” users (patients, carers, public) have nearly doubled since the Nov 2004 questionnaire (to 11%).
The proportion of visitors to the site who are visiting for the first time continues to increase and now stands at one third (presumably mainly due to Google). Nearly half the visitors (42% of doctors) say they are looking for a specific article.
| Table 1 | |||||
| Nov 2001 | Nov 2002 | Nov 2003 | Nov 2004 | July 2007 | |
| No of completed questionnaires | 65798 | 69744 | 89954 | 82982 | 81060 |
| No of distinct hosts among Questionnaire respondents | 47313 | 50111 | 62113 | 58213 | 56354 |
| Ratio of individuals to distinct hosts | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| Total no of distinct hosts accessing site during week of questionnaire | 82171 | 92991 | 149 334 | 161 431 | 212 636 |
| % increase over previous year (annualised) | 23% | 13% | 61% | 8% | 11% |
| Total no of individuals accessing site during questionnaire (estimate) | 114 274 | 129 424 | 209 068 | 230 118 | 305 857 |
| Response rate (estimate) | 58% | 54% | 43% | 36% | 26% |
Table 2 - Which category of visitor best describes you? [Numbers(%)]
| Visitor category | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2007 |
| Medically qualified doctor | 25938 (39) | 27660 (40) | 34696 (39) | 31001 (37) | 28975 (36) |
| Medical student | 7020 (11) | 7417 (11) | 8338 (9) | 7736 (9) | 6126 (8) |
| Nurse or nursing student | See Other | See Other | 7325 (8) | 7554 (9) | 7359 (9) |
| Other healthcare professional or student | 10764 (16) | 11236 (16) | 12088 (13) | 11926 (14) | 10043 (12) |
| Academic researcher | 8437 (13) | 9081 (13) | 10368 (12) | 9467 (11) | 9503 (12) |
| Pharma employee | 1650 (3) | 1798 (3) | 2142 (2) | 1944 (2) | 2272 (3) |
| Librarian | 1604 (2) | 1514 (2) | 1971 (2) | 1785 (2) | 1505 (2) |
| Patient or patient support group | 1151 (2) | 1224 (2) | 1879 (2) | 1554 (2) | 4022 (5) |
| Member of the public | 2588 (4) | 2878 (4) | 3872 (4) | 3326 (4) | 5144 (6) |
| Press | 939 (1) | 877 (1) | 1120 (1) | 967 (1) | 1146 (1) |
| Other | 5707 (9) | 6059 (9) | 6155 (7) | 5722 (7) | 4965 (6) |
| Total | 65798 (100) | 69744 (100) | 89954 (100) | 82982 (100) | 81060 (100) |
| Table 3 | |||||
| Medically qualified doctors (all) | |||||
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2007 | |
| Primary (all) | 6494 (25) | 7100 (26) | 9015 (26) | 8316 (27) | 12781 (44) |
| Primary (senior grade) | - | - | - | - | 9077 (31) |
| Primary (doctor in training) | - | - | - | - | 3704 (13) |
| Secondary (all) | 15926 (61) | 16789 (61) | 20972 (60) | 18571 (60) | 12672 (44) |
| Secondary senior | 9144 (35) | 9987 (36) | 11820 (34) | 11027 (36) | 7579 (26) |
| Secondary junior | 6772 (26) | 6802 (25) | 9152 (26) | 7544 (24) | 5093 (18) |
| Other | 3528 (14) | 3771 (14) | 4709 (14) | 4114 (13) | 3522 (12) |
| Total | 25938 (100) | 27660 (100) | 34696 (100) | 31001 (100) | 28975 (100) |
Table 4 - In which country do you live?
| Country | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2007 |
| United Kingdom | 25503 (39) | 25026 (36) | 34234 (38) | 29141 (35) | 22209 (27) |
| United States | 11039 (17) | 11495 (16) | 15888 (18) | 16389 (20) | 19107 (24) |
| Canada | 3414 (5) | 3182 (5) | 3736 (4) | 3947 (5) | 3338 (4) |
| Australia | 3474 (5) | 3732 (5) | 4453 (5) | 4180 (5) | 4576 (6) |
| Germany | 1411 (2) | 1228 (2) | 1411 (2) | 1402 (2) | 1230 (2) |
| India | 1320 (2) | 1144 (2) | 1700 (2) | 1090 (1) | 2762 (3) |
| Italy | 1689 (3) | 1504 (2) | 1722 (2) | 1628 (2) | 1221 (2) |
| Spain | 1397 (2) | 1128 (2) | 1389 (2) | 1198 (1) | 941 (1) |
| Brazil | 1043 (2) | 1049 (2) | 1055 (1) | 965 (1) | 1021 (1) |
| Ireland | 947 (1) | 1203 (2) | 1391 (2) | 1259 (2) | 971 (1) |
| New Zealand | 971 (1) | 1144 (2) | 1105 (1) | 997 (1) | 1253 (2) |
| Netherlands | 1221 (2) | 1156 (2) | 1248 (1) | 1166 (1) | 1109 (1) |
| Other | 12369 (19) | 16749 (24) | 20622 (23) | 19620 (24) | 21525 (27) |
| Total | 65798 (100) | 69740 (100) | 89954 (100) | 82982 (100) | 81060 (100) |
Table 5 - Subsidiary table: UK visitors by occupational group
| Visitor category | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2007 |
| Medically qualified doctor | 8505 (33) | 8217 | 11744 (35) | 9755 (34) | 6982 (31) |
| Medical student | 3473 (14) | 3485 (14) | 3778 (11) | 3251 (11) | 1202 (5) |
| Nurse or nursing student | See Other | See Other | 4196 (12) | 3687 (13) | 3036 (14) |
| Other healthcare professionalor student | 5419 (21) | 5363 (21) | 5539 (16) | 5135 (18) | 3272 (15) |
| Academic researcher | 2880 (11) | 2775 (11) | 3111 (9) | 2619 (9) | 2285 (10) |
| Pharma employee | 489 (2) | 489 (2) | 533 (2) | 484 (2) | 555 (3) |
| Librarian | 450 (2) | 362 (1) | 448 (1) | 389 (1) | 337 (2) |
| Patient or patient support group | 361 (1) | 349 (1) | 595 (2) | 388 (1) | 1003 (5) |
| Member of the public | 1036 (4) | 1007 (4) | 1445 (4) | 1048 (4) | 1769 (8) |
| Press | 262 (1) | 234 (1) | 330 (1) | 241 (1) | 345 (2) |
| Other | 2628 (10) | 2745 (11) | 2515 (7) | 2144 (7) | 1423 (6) |
| Total | 25503 (100) | 25026 (100) | 34234 (100) | 29141 (100 ) | 22209 (100) |
| Table 6 | |||||
| Medically qualified doctors (UK ) | |||||
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2007 | |
| Primary (all) | 1810 (21) | 1816 (22) | 2374 (20) | 2122 (22) | 2670 (38) |
| Primary (senior grade) | - | - | - | - | 1981 (28) |
| Primary (doctor in training) | - | - | - | - | 689 (10) |
| Secondary (all) | 5829 (69) | 5588 (68) | 8333 (71) | 6852 (70) | 3715 (53) |
| Secondary (senior grade) | 2174 (26) | 2199 (27) | 3176 (27) | 2839 (29) | 1868 (27) |
| Secondary (doctor in training) | 3654 (43) | 3389 (41) | 5157 (44) | 4013 (41) | 1847 (26) |
| Other | 867 (10) | 813 (10) | 1037 (9) | 781 (8) | 597 (9) |
| Total | 8505 (100) | 8217 (100) | 11744 (100) | 9755 (100) | 6982 (100) |
Table 7 - How old are you? 2007 11-20 3377
(4)21-30 22042
(27) 31-40 22057
(27)41-50 17263
(21)51-60 11802
(15) 61-70 3232
(4)71-80 845
(1)>80 442
(0.5)
Table 8 - What statement best describes you? (BMA)I receive the BMJ as a membership benefit of the BMA 6330
(8)I receive the StudentBMJ as a membership benefit of the BMA 1618
(2) I have full access to bmj.com via my library or institution 29813
(37)I have a personal subscription to bmj.com 2978
(4)None of the above 40321
(50)Total 81060
(100)
* Respondents who received the BMJ or the StudentBMJ as a benefit of membershipTable 9 2001 2002 2003 2004 2007 BMA members* who visited in
the week of the questionnaire 7299 7775 10369 9277 7948 Total BMA membership 126 899 128 341 129 987 134 703 139 126 % of BMA members visiting in
week of questionnaire 5.8 6.1 8.0 6.9 5.7 % of BMA members visiting in
week of questionnaire
(corrected for response rate) 10.0 11.3 18.6 19.2 21.6
Table 10 - Frequency of visit (proportion of all visits by that occupational group)
| First visit | Every/most days | Weekly | Fortnighty | Monthly | Less than monthly | TOTAL | |
| Medically qualified doctor (all) | 5027 (17) | 2636 (9) | 9153 (32) | 2833 (10) | 4291 (15) | 5035 (17) | 28975 (100) |
| Medical student | 2178 (36) | 357 (6) | 1007 (16) | 507 (8) | 963 (15) | 1114 (18) | 6126 (100) |
| Nurse or nursing student | 3290 (45) | 230 (3) | 823 (11) | 420 (6) | 1097 (15) | 1499 (20) | 7359 (100) |
| Other health care professional or student | 3492 (35) | 303 (3) | 1664 (14) | 765 (8) | 1590 (16) | 2229 (22) | 10043 (100) |
| Academic researcher | 2571 (27) | 391 (4) | 2231 (23) | 850 (9) | 1498 (16) | 1962 (21) | 9503 (100) |
| Librarian | 200 (13) | 133 (9) | 484 (32) | 131 (9) | 261 (17) | 296 (20) | 1505 (100) |
| Industry (pharma, insurance, legal, etc) | 657 (29) | 102 (5) | 493 (22) | 162 (7) | 319 (14) | 539 (24) | 2272 (100) |
| Patient/Carer | 3252 (81) | 44 (1) | 89 (2) | 47 (1) | 93 (2) | 497 (12) | 4022 (100) |
| Public | 3898 (76) | 64 (1) | 161 (3) | 71 (1) | 133 (3) | 817 (16) | 5144 (100) |
| Press | 324 (28) | 85 (7) | 267 (23) | 94 (8) | 154 (13) | 222 (19) | 1146 (100) |
| Other | 2102 (42) | 219 (4) | 798 (16) | 241 (5) | 540 (11) | 1065 (22) | 4965 (100) |
| Total | 26991 (33) | 4564 (6) | 17170 (21) | 6121 (7) | 10939 (14) | 15275 (19) | 81060 (100) |
| First visit | Every/most days | Weekly | Fortnightly | Monthly | Less often | TOTAL | |
| 2001 | 24 | 7 | 38 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 100 |
| 2002 | 24 | 9 | 37 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 100 |
| 2003 | 27 | 9 | 34 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 100 |
| 2004 | 28 | 9 | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 100 |
| 2007 | 33 | 6 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 19 | 100 |
Table 12 - What are you looking for on this visit?
| Medically qualified doctors | All | |
| A specific article | 12225 (42) | 38375 (47) |
| Information on a particular medical condition or treatment | 4544 (16) | 16842 (21) |
| Medical news | 2742 (10) | 5691 (7) |
| Information on medical advances, generally | 3458 (12) | 6145 (8) |
| Information on topics related to medicine (ethics, etc) | 1252 (4) | 5330 (7) |
| Jobs/Courses/Careers advice | 3656 (13) | 4394 (5) |
| Other | 1098 (4) | 4283 (5) |
| Total | 28975 (100) | 81060 (100) |
All the following questions were asked ONLY of returning doctors
Table 13 - In answer to the previous question you said you were looking for a specific article. Which feature will you use to find it?
| The quick search box that appears at the top of every page | 2236 (24) |
| The search box that appears on the channel pages | 261 (3) |
| The advanced search page | 1227 (13) |
| The current issue's table of contents | 1131 (12) |
| The archive of past issues | 1156 (12) |
| The Topics pages | 157 (2) |
| I'm following a link to the article from a search engine or another website. Without this questionnaire I would have been taken directly to it. | 3137 (34) |
| Total | 9305 (100) |
Table 14 - Which of the following details do you have about the article you are seeking? (tick as many as you like)
| The family name of at least one of the authors | 3242 (19) |
| At least one word that appears in the title | 4023 (23) |
| Topic or topics covered in the article | 5478 (31) |
| Volume and page number | 2528 (14) |
| Date of publication | 2231 (13) |
The following questions were asked of one in ten returning doctors (randomly assigned)
Table 15 - What prompted your first visit to bmj.com?
| Online search engine (eg Google or Yahoo) | 517 (21) |
| PubMed (Medline), PubMedCentral | 464 (19) |
| A link from another website | 222 (9) |
| Recommendation from a friend, teacher or colleague | 337 (14) |
| Article in the paper BMJ | 479 (19) |
| Article elsewhere | 88 (4) |
| Advertisement in the paper BMJ | 113 (5) |
| Advertisement elsewhere | 25 (1) |
| Other (please state) | 228 (9) |
| Total | 2473 (100) |
Table 16 - Please indicate your main specialty interest (doctors)
| Acute medicine | 75 (3) |
| Anaesthesia | 122 (5) |
| Cardiothoracic surgery | 36 (1) |
| Cardiovascular medicine | 116 (5) |
| Chemical pathology | 21 (1) |
| Complementary medicine | 12 (0.5) |
| Critical care/intensive care | 59 (2) |
| Dentistry and oral medicine | 17 (1) |
| Dermatology | 22 (1) |
| Emergency medicine | 92 (4) |
| Endocrinology/Diabetes | 76 (3) |
| ENT/Otolaryngology | 20 (1) |
| Epidemiology | 32 (1) |
| Ethics | 8 (0.3) |
| Gastroenterology | 39 (2) |
| General medicine/internal medicine | 175 (7) |
| General Practice/family practice/primary care | 341 (13) |
| General surgery | 71 (3) |
| Genetics | 8 (0.3) |
| Genito-urinary medicine and sexual health | 10 (0.4) |
| Geriatric medicine | 41 (2) |
| Haematology (inc. blood transfusion) | 23 (1) |
| Health economics | 4 (0.2) |
| Health informatics | 5 (0.2) |
| Health policy | 7 (0.3) |
| Immunology (inc. allergy) | 5 (0.2) |
| Infectious diseases | 49 (2) |
| Legal and forensic medicine | 6 (0.2) |
| Medical education | 15 (1) |
| Microbiology | 21 (1) |
| Neonatology | 17 (1) |
| Neurology | 50 (2) |
| Neurosurgery | 17 (1) |
| Nuclear medicine | 5 (0.2) |
| Obstetrics and gynaecology | 105 (4) |
| Occupational health | 18 (1) |
| Oncology | 39 (2) |
| Ophthalmology | 23 (1) |
| Oral/Maxillofacial surgery | 4 (0.2) |
| Orthopaedic surgery | 50 (2) |
| Paediatric surgery | 9 (0.4) |
| Paediatrics and child health | 149 (6) |
| Palliative care | 22 (1) |
| Pathology | 27 (1) |
| Pharmacology | 18 (1) |
| Plastic surgery | 10 (0.4) |
| Psychiatry | 125 (5) |
| Public health | 62 (2) |
| Radiology | 35 (1) |
| Radiotherapy | 3 (0.1) |
| Rehabilitation medicine | 14 (1) |
| Renal medicine/Nephrology | 21 (1) |
| Reproductive medicine | 6 (0.2) |
| Respiratory/Pulmonary medicine | 45 (2) |
| Rheumatology | 27 (1) |
| Sports and exercise medicine | 8 (0.3) |
| Statistics and Research Methods | 15 (1) |
| Urology | 17 (1) |
| Other | 9 (0.4) |
| Total | 2547 100) |
Table 17 - Compared with the old design, what is your opinion of the new design?
| Much better | 305 (12) |
| Better | 887 (35) |
| Neither better nor worse | 422 (17) |
| Worse | 107 (4) |
| Much worse | 35 (1) |
| I didn't see/can't remember the previous design | 781 (31) |
Table 18 - How has the time you spent on the website changed over the past year?
| Increased significantly | 509 (20) |
| Increased slightly | 525 (21) |
| Remained constant | 928 (36) |
| Decreased slightly | 164 (6) |
| Decreased significantly | 95 (4) |
| I wasn't visiting the site a year ago | 330 (13) |
| Total | 2551 (100) |
Table 19 - How long is your average visit to bmj.com?
| Less than 2 minutes | 123 (5) |
| 2-4 minutes | 263 (10) |
| 5-7 minutes | 488 (19) |
| 8-10 minutes | 677 (26) |
| 11-13 minutes | 174 (7) |
| 14-16 minutes | 262 (10) |
| More than 16 minutes | 651 (25) |
| Total | 2638 (100) |
Table 20 - What is the single most useful medical website that you use? (top ten results)
| PubMed/Medline | 521 (20) |
| BMJ | 349 (13) |
| UptoDate | 117 (4) |
| eMedicine | 106 (4) |
| 104 (4) | |
| NEJM | 104 (4) |
| Doctors.net | 88 (3) |
| Medscape | 82 (3) |
| GPNotebook | 79 (3) |
| Ovid | 32 (1) |
| Total | 2638 (100) |
Table 21 - All articles on bmj.com are now allocated to one of four channels: Research, Education, News, Comment. In which channel would you expect to find editorials?
| Research | 638 (25) |
| Education | 546 (21) |
| News | 255 (10) |
| Comment | 845 (33) |
| No idea | 306 (12) |
| Total | 2590 (100) |
Table 22 - How interested are you in more audio files (podcasts) being downloadable from bmj.com?
| Very interested | 514 (20) |
| Quite interested | 733 (28) |
| Not interested | 1037 (40) |
| I don't know what they are | 304 (12) |
| Total | 2588 (100) |
Table 23 - How interested are you in more blogs being posted on bmj.com?
| Very interested | 299 (11) |
| Quite interested | 633 (24) |
| Not interested | 1238 (47) |
| I don't know what they are | 488 (18) |
| Total | 2658 (100) |
