Use of Telephone Interviewing to Study Human Reproduction

Abstract

It is well known that specific agents active in the early months of pregnancy may cause certain congenital malformations. German measles was reoognized in the 1940's as one cause; more recently thalidomide taken by mothers early in pregnancy was found to be responsible for deformities in thousands of babies. These and similar discoveries have spurred the search for other agents operating early in pregnancy.On pursuing such research, however, one may find no routine medical records of factors of possible relevance. Hence, existing sources of data concerning events early in pregnancy need to be supplemented (1). The time of collection of the data from the mother is crucial. Gathering information at the end of pregnancy may introduce serious biases. For example, the mother of a malformed child, seeking a reason for the child's defect, is more likely to recall and report unusual events during pregnancy than is the mother of a nornal child (2).Obtaining the desired information at the time of the woman's first prenatal visit to the physician should reduce these biases, but difficulties in recall would still remain. Even among women obtaining prenatal care in the first trimester, only a small proportion start such care

The effects of work site, supervisory status, and job function on nuclear workers' responses to the TMI accident

“…Choice of this procedure was based upon the growing body of evidence from studies of health and behaviour which indicates that telephone interviews can provide as valid and reliable information as face-to-face interviews or mailed questionnaire (e.g. Coombs and Freedman, 1964;Groves and Kahn, 1979;Hochstein, 1967;Lucas and Adams, 1977;Mooney, Pollack and Corsa, 1968). Underrepresentation due to excluding non-telephone households was not a problem since virtually every potential subject had a phone.…”

Personal versus Telephone Interviews: Effect on Responses

“…A number of studies using the telephone interview have been reported in recent years (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11). In some, the interviews were lengthy and questions were asked about sensitive topics.…”

Entrevistas realizadas a distância no campo da pesquisa qualitativa em saúde

“…A viabilidade das ED (MOONEY; POLLACK; CORSA JUNIOR, 1968;MUSSLEWHITE et al, 2007;HARRIS et al, 2008;STANLEY, 2008;D'SOUZA et al, 2010;CECATTI et al, 2011) e a avaliação de instrumentos para captação de dados por telefone também foram temas que sobressaíram nos resultados da presente análise (COREY; FREEMAN, 1990;HOLMES et al, 2004;HANSSON et al, 2005;COMELLA, 2005). Nesse contexto, Cecatti et al (2011) afirmaram que o uso das entrevistas telefônicas se mostrou viável para obtenção de informações de saúde reprodutiva entre mulheres, especialmente quando a entrevista abordou eventos relativamente recentes, e nos casos em que as entrevistadas disponibilizaram aos pesquisadores mais de um número de telefone.…”

“…Também destacam que a realização de procedimentos padronizados de acompanhamento é necessária para assegurar o êxito da coleta de dados via telefone. Mooney, Pollack, Corsa Junior (1968) concluíram que a captação de informações por entrevista telefônica é uma ação viável e apresenta-se de baixo custo quando comparada com outros procedimentos de coleta de dados.…”