Automated and Interviewer-Administered Mobile Phone Surveys in Burkina Faso: Sociodemographic Differences Among...

The remarkable growth of cell phone ownership in low- and middle-income countries has generated significant interest in using cell phones for conducting surveys through computer-assisted telephone interviews, live interviewer-administered surveys, or automated surveys (ie, interactive voice response).

This study aimed to compare, by mode, the sociodemographic characteristics of cell phone owners who completed a follow-up phone survey with those who did not complete the survey.

The study was based on a nationally representative sample of women aged 15 to 49 years who reported cell phone ownership during a household survey in Burkina Faso in 2016. Female cell phone owners were randomized to participate in a computer-assisted telephone interview or hybrid interactive voice response follow-up phone survey 11 months after baseline interviews. Completion of the phone survey was defined as participants responding to more than 50% of questions in the phone survey. We investigated sociodemographic characteristics associated with cell phone survey completion using multivariable logistic regression models, stratifying the analysis by survey mode and by directly comparing computer-assisted telephone interview and hybrid interactive voice response respondents.

A total of 1766 women were called for the phone survey between November 5 and 17, 2017. In both the computer-assisted telephone interview and hybrid interactive voice response samples, women in urban communities and women with secondary education or higher were more likely to complete the survey than their rural and less-educated counterparts. Compared directly, women who completed the hybrid interactive voice response survey had higher odds of having a secondary education than those who completed computer-assisted telephone interviews (odds ratio 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.6).

In Burkina Faso, computer-assisted telephone interviews are the preferred method of conducting cell phone surveys owing to less sample distortion and a higher response rate compared with a hybrid interactive voice response survey.