Evaluation of Conducting Phone Interviews on Sexual Behavior: An Iranian Population-Based Study

Abstract

Background: Phone interview is a safe way for collecting sensitive data due to no need for direct contact with the interviewees and their privacy. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility and validity of phone interviewing using mobile phones to collect sensitive information related to the participants’ sexual behavior. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on the sexually active population of Marvdasht, Iran, from 2017 - 2018. Results: A total of 5,894 individuals (2,991 from urban and 2,903 from rural areas) from both genders (n = 3,202 males vs. n = 2,692 females) with an age range of 18 - 50 years were included in this study. The participation rate was convincing (92.18%), and the response rate to all questions was also very high (99.1%). According to the results, gender and place of residency had statistically significant associations with the rates of participation and response. Conclusions: The results suggested that a phone interview is a potentially useful method for gathering sensitive information in Iranian population, a community with a religious background.