Conducting regional health surveys using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing method

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Survey Methodology

Background:

• Establishment of thirteen health regions in Queensland in 1991 necessitated regional health service planning and evaluation capabilities.
• A foundational information base was required at the regional level to support these new health authorities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a large-scale regional health survey to inform health service planning, monitoring, and evaluation.
• To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) for health data collection in Australia.

Main Methods:

• A statewide survey was conducted in 1993 utilizing computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI).
• Two sampling methods, list-directed dialing and random-digit dialing, were employed and compared.
• The last-birthday method was used for respondent selection within households.

Main Results:

• Over 10,400 interviews were successfully completed across Queensland.
• CATI was utilized on an unprecedented scale for health data collection in Australia.
• No significant difference in response rates was observed between list-directed and random-digit dialing.
• Random-digit dialing resulted in higher numbers of attempted contacts and non-contact rates.

Conclusions:

• Regional health surveys are vital for effective health service management.
• CATI is a viable method for large-scale health data collection, though sampling strategies require careful consideration.
• The last-birthday method introduced a bias towards female respondents.