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Comparability of Skin Screening Histories Obtained by Telephone Interviews and Mailed Questionnaires: A Randomized Crossover Study
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Comparability of Skin Screening Histories Obtained by Telephone Interviews and Mailed Questionnaires: A Randomized Crossover Study

J F Aitken, Philippa H Youl, M Janda, M Elwood, I T Ring and John B Lowe
American Journal of Epidemiology, Vol.160(6), pp.598-604
2004
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwh263
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https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwh263View
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Abstract

Public Health and Health Services cross-over studies data collection mass screening melanoma randomized controlled trials skin
The comparability of information collected through telephone interviews and information collected through mailed questionnaires has not been well studied. As part of the first phase of a randomized controlled trial of population screening for melanoma in Queensland, Australia, the authors compared histories of skin examination reported in telephone interviews and self-administered mailed questionnaires. A total of 1,270 subjects each completed a telephone interview and a mailed questionnaire 1 month apart in 1999; 564 subjects received the interview first, and 706 received the mailed questionnaire first. Agreement between the two methods was 91.2% and 88.6% for whole-body skin examination by a physician in the last 12 months and the last 3 years, respectively, and 81.9% for whole-body skin self-examination in the last 12 months. Agreement was lower for "any" skin self-examination. Agreement between the two methods was similar regardless of whether the interview or the questionnaire was administered first. Missing data were less frequent for interviews (0.5%) than for mailed questionnaires (3.8%). Costs were estimated at A$9.55 (US$6.21) per completed interview and A$3.01 (US$1.96) per questionnaire. The similarity of results obtained using telephone interviews and mailed questionnaires, coupled with the substantially higher cost of telephone interviews, suggests that self-administered mailed questionnaires are an appropriate method of assessing this health behavior.

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