title: A brief telephone interview to identify lesbian and bisexual women in random digit dialing sampling.
abstract: Lesbian health research has most often relied on nonprobability samples that are biased and restrict generalizability. Random sampling could reduce bias, but requires development of a method for fast and reliable screening of a large number of women. We tested the feasibility of using a brief telephone interview to assess sexual attraction, behavior, and identity. Using Random Digit Dialing in a neighborhood of Boston with a high density of lesbian residents, we interviewed 202 women aged 18 to 59. Of the respondents, 33% reported some sexual attraction to other women, 20% reported sex with women since age 18, and 14% identified as a lesbian. The high level of cooperation with the study among eligible women (94%) and the high proportion of women who disclosed homosexual attraction, behavior, or identity show that it is feasible to use a brief screening questionnaire about sexuality of women over the telephone even without building special rapport with the respondents.
authors.affiliation: Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, 722 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA. im15@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Ilan H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Lindsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rossano
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bradford
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D019058:Community Networks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D020010:Heterosexuality / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D018579:Patient Selection; D011897:Random Allocation; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards*; D012933:Social Identification; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards