TelEMA: a low-cost and user-friendly telephone assessment platform

Abstract

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA), or the repeated assessment of individuals' behaviors and experiences over time, is a methodologically advantageous approach to the study of psychological constructs. Recently, advances in computer technology have allowed for EMA research to be conducted in a more convenient, automated, and secure manner by administering surveys on participants' telephones and storing the results directly to a central server. The present article introduces TelEMA, an easy-touse, low-cost telephone assessment platform for clinical and research applications. A single server running TelEMA can be shared among many experimenters, studies, and participants simultaneously. TelEMA routes telephone calls and text messages through a third-party service, so experimenters may conduct studies with no up-front cost or technical expertise. TelEMA provides a secure Web interface for experimenters or clinicians to design studies, enroll participants, monitor compliance, and collate response data from anywhere. Participants complete surveys using their own telephones. Surveys may contain keypress or voice recording questions, and the timing and content of each survey may be randomized and customized. A pilot study was conducted in which individuals used the TelEMA system to complete four randomly timed surveys per day for one week; the surveys assessed state affect and social anxiety. Results indicated that participants found TelEMA easy to use and secure, and compliance rates were on par with other EMA methods using mobile devices. Overall, Tel-EMA is a practical and robust system that enables fast and inexpensive deployment of EMAs.

Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to Evaluate Current Physical Activity

“…Older people have been found to be reluctant to participate in studies which promoted electronic forms of data collection [37]. However, it should be noted that information and communications technology is becoming an increasingly common mode of data collection in medicine and health promotion, the main reasons being the lower costs of research and treatment and the more widespread availability of such technology [13, 14]. …”

“…It can also be collected through “pencil and paper” questionnaires sent and verified each day during an ongoing study [11]. Alternatively, electronic methods such as online questionnaires [13] or portable electronic devices such as PDAs (personal digital assistants) and mobile phones can be used [11, 13–15]. The PDA collects data, informs subjects when which they are supposed to complete the questionnaire, and sends the acquired data directly to the authors [11], while free, easy-to-use software such as MyExperience can be installed on mobile phones [16, 17].…”

“…The sent signal indicates a specific time to report current activity and integrates returning calls or text messages with the EMA survey. Data can be simultaneously collected this way by many researchers working in different locations on different projects [13]. …”

Ecologic Momentary Assessment: Perspectives on Applications and Opportunities in Research and Practice Regarding Nutrition Behaviors

“…33 Systems that use interactive voice response do not require the use of a smartphone and therefore may be more cost-effective. 33 However, the cost to researchers will continue to change as technology advances and the ubiquity of devices increases.…”

“…33 Systems that use interactive voice response do not require the use of a smartphone and therefore may be more cost-effective. 33 However, the cost to researchers will continue to change as technology advances and the ubiquity of devices increases. On the other hand, participant devices are non-standard (eg, Android and iOS smartphones with many versions), and greater availability of devices does not necessarily mean lower costs.…”