Development and use of touch-screen audio computer-assisted self-interviewing in a study of American Indians

This article describes the development and usability of an audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) questionnaire created to collect dietary, physical activity, medical history, and other lifestyle data in a population of American Indians. Study participants were part of a cohort of American Indians living in the southwestern United States. Data were collected between March 2004 and July 2005. Information for evaluating questionnaire usability and acceptability was collected from three different sources: baseline study data, auxiliary background data, and a short questionnaire administered to a subset of study participants. For the subset of participants, 39.6% reported not having used a computer in the past year. The ACASI questionnaires were well accepted: 96.0% of the subset of participants reported finding them enjoyable to use, 97.2% reported that they were easy to use, and 82.6% preferred them for future questionnaires. A lower educational level and infrequent computer use in the past year were predictors of having usability trouble. These results indicate that the ACASI questionnaire is both an acceptable and a preferable mode of data collection in this population.