title: Piloting a computer assisted telephone interview: the FUCHSIA Women's Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Loss of fertility has been reported as an important concern of reproductive age women diagnosed with cancer. The Furthering Understanding of Cancer, Health, and Survivorship In Adult (FUCHSIA) Women's Study examines how cancer treatment affects the fertility of cancer survivors who were diagnosed during their reproductive years. In this paper we discuss the process of developing and pilot testing the FUCHSIA computer assisted telephone interview (CATI).
  
  
  METHODS
  The CATI was developed in several phases and pilot tested twice to evaluate several aspects of the instrument including question sequencing, understandability of the questions, and women's comfort with certain questions. Participants were recruited from cancer and infertility support groups and study team contacts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-two women were recruited and participated in the first pilot. The participants had a mean age of 31.5 years, 17.3% had cancer, and 38.5% experienced a period of infertility. Twenty-four women participated in the second pilot with similar representation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The collection of detailed information on reproductive outcomes with the CATI may improve the understanding of how cancer treatment during the reproductive years affects female fertility. The pilot studies provided important information to improve the CATI before the full study. Our comprehensive recruitment strategy allowed us to interview a diverse group of women to ensure that questions and answer choices were easily interpreted, check complicated skip patterns and the flow of questions, and evaluate the length of the interview. This experience can be used to help inform others in what steps can be useful for developing telephone interviews for research studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, CNR 3rd Floor, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. hbchin@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Helen B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, CNR 3rd Floor, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. cyjohnson@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Candice Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, CNR 3rd Floor, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. konnyhuh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Konny H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, CNR 3rd Floor, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. jhknigh@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Jessica H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.affiliation: Aflac Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, 2015 Uppergate Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. Ann.Mertens@choa.org.
authors.forename: Ann C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.affiliation: Division of Applied Research, Allina Health, Mail Route 10039, 2925 Chicago Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55407, USA. Pamela.Mink@allina.com.
authors.forename: Pamela J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Mink
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, CNR 3rd Floor, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. r.m.simeone@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Regina M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Simeone
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, CNR 3rd Floor, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. jjdavis@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Jill J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Woodard
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, CNR 3rd Floor, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. penelope.howards@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Penelope P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Howards
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003201:Computers; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000209:etiology*; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D017741:Survivors; D013997:Time Factors