Internet-administered adolescent health questionnaires compared with a paper version in a randomized study.

Area of Science:

• Adolescent Health
• Digital Health Interventions
• Psychometric Equivalence

Background:

• Assessing adolescent health status and behaviors is crucial for targeted interventions.
• Traditional paper-and-pencil (P&P) health questionnaires may present limitations in data collection efficiency and adolescent engagement.
• The increasing prevalence of digital technology necessitates the evaluation of Internet-based health assessment tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the score equivalence between Internet-administered adolescent health questionnaires and traditional P&P methods.
• To compare adolescents' subjective evaluations of different Internet-based questionnaire interfaces versus P&P administration.
• To investigate the impact of interface design (multiple items vs. one item per screen) on user experience.

Main Methods:

• Random assignment of 591 adolescents (aged 13-17) to two Internet interfaces or P&P administration.
• Completion of questionnaires on psychosocial well-being, self-reported problems, healthcare utilization, and health behaviors.
• Statistical analysis using Student's t-test and Wald test to compare scores across administration modes.

Main Results:

• The Internet administration mode received more favorable evaluations compared to P&P.
• Adolescents using the Internet one-item-per-screen interface reported higher satisfaction with appearance.
• The multiple-items-per-screen format was perceived as faster than the one-item-per-screen format.

Conclusions:

• Internet-based health questionnaires demonstrate score equivalence with P&P methods for assessing adolescent health status and behavior.
• Adolescents generally prefer and evaluate Internet-based modes more favorably than P&P.
• Further research is recommended to confirm score equivalence across diverse questionnaires and settings.