Palmtop-assisted self-interviewing for the collection of sensitive behavioral data: randomized trial with drug use urine testing.

Palmtop assisted self interviewing PASI may provide a cheaper and more mobile alternative to audio computer assisted self interviewing ACASI for collecting sensitive behavioral data To evaluate PASI in late 2002 the authors enrolled 1 283 Thai students aged 15 21 years in a randomized trial Data collection used PASI ACASI self administered questionnaire and face to face interview in combination with drug use urine testing By use of reported levels of behaviors and agreement between self reports of smoking and urine test results PASI and ACASI alpha 0 05 were compared for noninferiority and PASI and interview were compared for superiority alpha 0 05 Noninferiority of PASI was demonstrated by use of self reports of the most sensitive areas of sexual behavior e g oral sex sexual intercourse commercial sex history of genital ulcers pregnancy as well as self reports of less sensitive behaviors e g alcohol use dietary behaviors symptoms of depression Data generally showed noninferiority of PASI ACASI and self administered questionnaires when compared with each other and superiority of PASI ACASI and self administered questionnaires when compared with interviews PASI agreements between self reports of tobacco smoking and presence of nicotine metabolites in urine were noninferior to ACASI and superior to interviews The establishment of PASI noninferiority and superiority using behavioral and biologic measures suggests that PASI is a scientifically acceptable alternative for collecting sensitive behavioral data