Validation of phone administration of short-form disability and psychology questionnaires

To assess whether there was a difference in score between paper and telephone administration of disability and psychological questionnaires relevant to patients with an upper extremity illness.

The short version of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand score, the 5-question version of the Short Health Anxiety Inventory, the 4-question version of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-2, and an ordinal pain scale were completed by 135 patients both in the office and the next day over the phone. We compared scores with repeated measures analysis of variance and Pearson correlation. We used intraclass correlation coefficients to test the level of agreement.

There were small but significant differences between paper and phone administration of the short version of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand scores and pain scores, but not the Patient Health Questionnaire-2, Short Health Anxiety Inventory-5, and Pain Catastrophizing Scale-4. There was a large Pearson correlation and excellent intraclass correlation coefficient agreement, as well.

Shorter questionnaires can be used to assess disability and psychological factors by phone. Phone administration of measures of disability and psychological factors can replace paper administration in studies that do not require in-person examination.