A Focus Group Pilot Study of Use of Smartphone to Collect Information About Health Behaviors
James Dayton
ICF International
Shanta R. Dube
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Naomi Freedner-Maguire
ICF International
S. Sean Hu
Centers for Disease Controland Prevention
Smartphone web access is immediate, accessible, and confidential, a combination of features that could make them a powerful tool for public health surveillance and evaluation. The purpose of the study is to evaluate factors that promote and hinder participation in use of smartphones for population-based surveys. Two focus groups with participants aged 18-34 and 35-65 years were conducted. The semi-structured, facilitated discussions covered pros and cons of conducting surveys via smartphone, barriers to and facilitators of using this novel data collection mode, and other issues. Audiotapes of the group discussions were transcribed and analyzed qualitatively. Facilitators of increasing participation included using contingent incentives, limiting use of open-ended questions, providing flexibility in response time, and emphasizing the survey data's social benefits. Potential barriers included usability issues with certain types of smartphones, and considerations related to work-issued smartphones; some differences were observed by age group. As smartphones continue to evolve, understanding of how they can be used to collect data is critical to surveillance and evaluation efforts.
