Random digit dialing and directory-based samples in telephone surveys of HIV risk: A comparison from the Australian Study of Health and Relationships (original) (raw)
Related papers
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 1999
Objective: To compare the methodologies of and health estimates derived from two telephone household survey methods. In particular, to establish if White Pages telephone listings provide a relatively unbiased sampling frame for population health surveys. Method: In South Australia in 1998, a health survey questionnaire was administered by telephone to two randomly selected population samples. The first method used EWP (Electronic White Pages, n=6,012), which contains all listed residential telephone numbers as the sampling frame. The results were compared to a RDD (random digit dialling, n=3,080) sample where all listed and unlisted telephone numbers were included in the sampling frame. Demographic variables and health estimates were compared between the surveys, and then compared to a 'gold standard' door-to-door household survey conducted concurrently. Resu/ts:The response rate for EWP (83.8%) exceeded that of RDD (65.4%). More than four times as many calls were required per completed interview in RDD. Demographic profiles and health estimates were substantially similar. Conclusions: EWP requires fewer telephone calls and enables approach letters establishing the bona fides of the survey to be sent to each selected address before calling, increasing the response rate. RDD is a more inclusive sampling frame but also includes nonconnected and business numbers, and offers no significant advantages in providing health estimates. Implications: There are substantial methodological and cost advantages in using EWP over RDD as the sampling frame for population health surveys, without introducing significant bias into health estimates.
Address-based versus Random-Digit-Dial Surveys: Comparison of Key Health and Risk Indicators
American Journal of Epidemiology, 2006
Use of random-digit dialing (RDD) for conducting health surveys is increasingly problematic because of declining participation rates and eroding frame coverage. Alternative survey modes and sampling frames may improve response rates and increase the validity of survey estimates. In a 2005 pilot study conducted in six states as part of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the authors administered a mail survey to selected household members sampled from addresses in a US Postal Service database. The authors compared estimates based on data from the completed mail surveys (n ¼ 3,010) with those from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System telephone surveys (n ¼ 18,780). The mail survey data appeared reasonably complete, and estimates based on data from the two survey modes were largely equivalent. Differences found, such as differences in the estimated prevalences of binge drinking (mail ¼ 20.3%, telephone ¼ 13.1%) or behaviors linked to human immunodeficiency virus transmission (mail ¼ 7.1%, telephone ¼ 4.2%), were consistent with previous research showing that, for questions about sensitive behaviors, self-administered surveys generally produce higher estimates than intervieweradministered surveys. The mail survey also provided access to cell-phone-only households and households without telephones, which cannot be reached by means of standard RDD surveys.
BMC Medical Research Methodology, 2012
Background: In Australia telephone surveys have been the method of choice for ongoing jurisdictional population health surveys. Although it was estimated in 2011 that nearly 20% of the Australian population were mobile-only phone users, the inclusion of mobile phone numbers into these existing landline population health surveys has not occurred. This paper describes the methods used for the inclusion of mobile phone numbers into an existing ongoing landline random digit dialling (RDD) health survey in an Australian state, the New South Wales Population Health Survey (NSWPHS). This paper also compares the call outcomes, costs and the representativeness of the resultant sample to that of the previous landline sample. Methods: After examining several mobile phone pilot studies conducted in Australia and possible sample designs (screening dual-frame and overlapping dual-frame), mobile phone numbers were included into the NSWPHS using an overlapping dual-frame design. Data collection was consistent, where possible, with the previous years' landline RDD phone surveys and between frames. Survey operational data for the frames were compared and combined. Demographic information from the interview data for mobile-only phone users, both, and total were compared to the landline frame using χ 2 tests. Demographic information for each frame, landline and the mobile-only (equivalent to a screening dual frame design), and the frames combined (with appropriate overlap adjustment) were compared to the NSW demographic profile from the 2011 census using χ 2 tests.
BMC medical research methodology, 2016
Emerging communication technologies have had an impact on population-based telephone surveys worldwide. Our objective was to examine the potential biases of health estimates in South Australia, a state of Australia, obtained via current landline telephone survey methodologies and to report on the impact of mobile-only household on household surveys. Data from an annual multi-stage, systematic, clustered area, face-to-face population survey, Health Omnibus Survey (approximately 3000 interviews annually), included questions about telephone ownership to assess the population that were non-contactable by current telephone sampling methods (2006 to 2013). Univariable analyses (2010 to 2013) and trend analyses were conducted for sociodemographic and health indicator variables in relation to telephone status. Relative coverage biases (RCB) of two hypothetical telephone samples was undertaken by examining the prevalence estimates of health status and health risk behaviours (2010 to 2013): d...
Preventive medicine reports, 2017
The Queensland preventive health survey is conducted annually to monitor the prevalence of behavioural risk factors in the north-east Australian state. Prompted by domestic and international trends in mobile telephone usage, the 2015 survey incorporated both mobile and landline telephone numbers from a list-based sampling frame. Estimates for landline-accessible and mobile-only respondents are compared to assess potential bias in landline-only surveys in the context of public health surveillance. Significant differences were found in subcategories of all health prevalence estimates considered (alcohol consumption, body mass index, smoking, and physical activity) from 2015 survey results. Results from Australian and international studies that have considered mobile telephone non-coverage bias are also summarised and discussed. We find that adjusting for sampling biases of telephone surveys by weighting does not fully compensate for the differences in prevalence estimates. However, pr...
Noncoverage rates in U.S. landline-based telephone samples due to cell phone-only households (i.e., households with no landline but accessible by cell phone) and the corresponding potential for bias in estimates from surveys that sample only from landline frames are growing issues. Building on some of the few published studies that focus on this problem, a study was conducted in three states (Georgia, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania) as part of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the world's largest ongoing public health telephone survey, to evaluate the effectiveness of conducting the BRFSS interview with a sample drawn from dedicated cell phone telephone exchanges and mixed-use (landline and cell phone) exchanges. Approximately 600 interviews were conducted in each of two groups: cell phone-only adults (n = 572) and adults with both a landline and a cell phone (n = 592). Making comparisons with data from the ongoing, landline-based BRFSS survey, we report on response rates, demographic characteristics of respondents, key survey estimates of health conditions and risk behaviors, and survey costs. The methodology employed in this study and the "lessons learned," including the costs of conducting surveys over cell phones, have wide application for other telephone surveys.
Analysis of Factors Influencing Telephone Call Response Rate in an Epidemiological Study
The Scientific World Journal, 2014
Descriptive epidemiology research involves collecting data from large numbers of subjects. Obtaining these data requires approaches designed to achieve maximum participation or response rates among respondents possessing the desired information. We analyze participation and response rates in a population-based epidemiological study though a telephone survey and identify factors implicated in consenting to participate. Rates found exceeded those reported in the literature and they were higher for afternoon calls than for morning calls. Women and subjects older than 40 years were the most likely to answer the telephone. The study identified geographical differences, with higher RRs in districts in southern Spain that are not considered urbanized. This information may be helpful for designing more efficient community epidemiology projects.