As of: March 25, 2024, 7:14 p.m
By: Martina Lippl, Bettina Menzel
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The Robert Koch Institute sends monetary gifts.
This is intended to increase participation in an important health study.
The method causes criticism.
Berlin – There is a lack of overview in Germany.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) even called it a “health policy scandal” that there is no reliable data on the health of the population.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) wants to provide this important data with the “Health in Germany” study series.
The institute sent 180,000 people an invitation to participate by post.
The envelope contains a QR code that leads to the questionnaire and a five-euro note, reports the
Editorial Network Germany (RND)
.
In order to recruit test subjects for the study, a total of almost one million euros will be distributed in this way.
But that is not the main point of contention.
Five-euro cash gift: Lauterbach's ministry wants to attract people to take part in the study
The calculation is pretty simple: the sum amounts to 900,000 euros if five euros are distributed to each of the 180,000 people.
Financial incentives – also known as incentives – are common in science.
Finding suitable test subjects for studies or surveys is becoming increasingly difficult.
In a test before the start of the campaign, the RKI said it was able to increase the participation rate by 13 percentage points through the use of incentives.
These included people “who would otherwise be difficult to recruit for surveys,” said the RKI in response to a query from
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
The RKI hopes that 35 percent of all invited people will take part in the survey.
Conversely, this means that probably 65 percent of people will not fill out the questionnaire despite the monetary gift.
So 117,000 people receive five euros without having to do anything for it.
A windfall of 585,000 euros ended up in various mailboxes all over Germany.
Lauterbach gives away almost a million?
Taxpayers' Association criticizes RKI cash gifts
The Association of German Taxpayers (BdSt) has a problem with this.
“Apparently all taxpayers are spending money on a select group of people here,” said Reiner Holznagel, the president of the taxpayers’ association, in an interview with
RND
.
He demands: “Because public funds are flowing, detailed explanations are definitely due – until then the survey should be stopped.”
Five euros for doing nothing?
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (archive photo) expects data from a large health survey by the RKI.
© Frederic Kern/imago
The RKI responded to a query from
IPPEN.MEDIA
: “We generally do not comment on statements made by individuals.” However, the use of so-called incentives to promote study participation is common practice and has been examined in detail in methodological research.
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The participants are selected through a random sample.
According to RND
, anyone who takes part in the survey will receive
an additional ten euros.
The RKI also wants to send this money by post instead of transferring it.
In response to a query from
IPPEN.MEDIA
, the RKI explained : “Not all participants have online access – these people would be systematically excluded.”
However, the survey is also intended to reach people without internet access.
“The surveys take place online, but participation with paper questionnaires is also possible,” the RKI continues.
Basic principle of data protection: Ministry sends money by post – instead of bank transfer
Another reason for sending by post is that account details would have to be collected for a transfer.
This would violate the principle of data economy, a fundamental principle of data protection, and would probably also increase the burden.
“It was therefore decided that the incentive would not be made available online via bank transfer or similar, as otherwise the relevant data would have to be collected from the participants,” says the institute about this solution.
According to RND, Deutsche Post criticized the unsafe approach.
However, the RKI itself offers alternatives.
According to information on the study's homepage, anyone who has collected 500 points by participating in additional surveys will receive a voucher - for example from MediaMarkt or Kaufland - worth five euros.
This can be easily accessed online.
Data from the RKI study should shape Lauterbach's health policy
The “Health in Germany” study is designed as a panel.
This involves questioning a group of people over and over again over a longer period of time.
The more people participate, the more accurate the results will be.
The statistical data determined in this way “can, for example, be taken into account in future health policy decisions,” says the RKI on the study’s homepage.
Even in times of crisis, the panel offers the infrastructure to quickly get answers to health questions, explained the President of the RKI, Lars Schaade.
“The panel is an important tool to improve the health of people in the country,” added Schaade.
Starting in May, participants will have to fill out a questionnaire on various topics every three months.
“If you receive an invitation, take part,” says the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in a statement about the study series.
Big changes are coming for patients: Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is planning some changes to advance the digitalization of the healthcare system in Germany.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.