Is telephone assessment a valid tool in rehabilitation research and practice?

PURPOSE: To determine if face-to-face and telephone administration of questionnaires produce comparable results in rehabilitation research studies. METHOD A total of 80 participants who used eyeglasses as their primary visual assistive device agreed to participate. All completed the Life Orientation Test and the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale. Approximately half of the participants completed the forms after being approached by an interviewer and then were contacted by telephone 2 weeks later to complete the forms a second time. The other half of the participants initially completed the forms over the telephone and then met with an interviewer 2 weeks later and completed the forms face-to-face.
RESULTS: For the forms used no statistically significant differences were found between groups or over time.
CONCLUSION: For some questionnaires telephone administration may provide a convenient and cost-effective method of data collection. However, it should not be automatically assumed that all questionnaires will yield the same results regardless of the mode of administration used.