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Use of interactive voice response (IVR) technology in health research with children

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Abstract

This article reports on the feasibility of using interactive voice response (IVR) technology to obtain daily reports of attitudes toward alcohol and tobacco use among children 9–13 years of age. Two studies were conducted. The first was an investigation of the use of IVR technology to obtain daily data from a sample of primary school children over a period of 8 weeks. The second was an extension of the research to a large sample of primary and secondary school children in urban and rural areas who provided daily data over a 4-week period. Retention and compliance rates comparable to those obtained with adults were evident in both studies, supporting the feasibility of this technology with children. The results are discussed in relation to the benefits of this methodology for health research, particularly for studies of sensitive topics conducted with children and adolescents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, 6009, Crawley, Australia

    Werner G. K. Stritzke, Justine Dandy, Kevin Durkin & Stephen Houghton

Authors
  1. Werner G. K. Stritzke
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  2. Justine Dandy
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  3. Kevin Durkin
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  4. Stephen Houghton
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Werner G. K. Stritzke.

Additional information

This research was supported by Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation (Healthway) Grants 7688 and 9354.

Note—This article was accepted by the previous editor, Jonathan Vaughan.

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Stritzke, W.G.K., Dandy, J., Durkin, K. et al. Use of interactive voice response (IVR) technology in health research with children. Behavior Research Methods 37, 119–126 (2005). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206405

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