Telephone versus in-person interviews for alcohol use: results of the 2000 National Alcohol Survey

Abstract

This study assesses differences in reports of alcohol use and alcohol-related harms using telephone and in-person interviews in a subsample of the 2000 National Alcohol Survey (NAS) (N = 411). Respondents were given a brief telephone interview which assessed their alcohol use and alcohol-related harms in the last 12 months followed by an in-person interview 2 months later that obtained the same data. Approximately 90% (n = 371) reported their drinking status consistently between interviews (277 current drinkers; 94 non-drinkers). Approximately 7% (n = 29) became current drinkers and 2.7% (n = 11) became non-drinkers at the second interview. The majority of respondents who changed their drinking status in either direction were low level drinkers. Using logistic regression modeling, no significant associations were found between demographic factors and consistency of reported drinking status. Further, there were no differences by mode for the two alcohol consumption measures (mean daily volume and mean number of days drank five or more drinks in the last 12 months) and alcohol-related harms in the last 12 months for current drinkers (n = 277). In conjunction with other mode studies, these findings support the use of telephone interviewing in large national surveys to obtain alcohol use and alcohol-related harms data.