A pilot study of a computer-assisted cell-phone interview (CACI) methodology to survey respondents in households without telephones about alcohol use.
An intrinsic drawback with the use of a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) survey methodology is that people who live in households without a connected landline telephone are excluded from the survey sample. This paper presents a pilot of the feasibility of a computer-assisted cell-phone interview (CACI) methodology designed to survey people living in households without a telephone about alcohol use and be compatible with a larger telephone based alcohol sample. The CACI method was found to be an efficient and cost competitive method to reach non-telephone households. Telephone ownership was found to make a difference to the typical occasion amount of alcohol consumed, with respondents from households without telephones drinking significantly more than those with telephones even when consumption levels were controlled for socio-economic status. Although high levels of telephone ownership in the general population mean these differences may not have any impact on population alcohol measures they may be important in sub-populations where telephone ownership is lower.
Wilkins
Chris
C
Alcohol and Public Health Research Unit, University of Auckland, New Zealand. c.wilkins@massey.ac.nz
Casswell
Sally
S
Barnes
Helen Moewaka
HM
Pledger
Megan
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D040421:Cell Phone; D003201:Computers; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D010067:Ownership / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*