Telephone Versus Internet Administration of Self-Report Measures of Social Anxiety, Depressive Symptoms, and Insomnia: Psychometric Evaluation of a Method to Reduce the Impact of Missing Data

BACKGROUND: Internet-administered self-report measures of social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and sleep difficulties are widely used in clinical trials and in clinical routine care, but data loss is a common problem that could render skewed estimates of symptom levels and treatment effects. One way of reducing the negative impact of missing data could be to use telephone administration of self-report measures as a means to complete the data missing from the online data collection. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to compare the convergence of telephone and Internet administration of self-report measures of social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and sleep difficulties. METHODS: The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self-Report (LSAS-SR), Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale-Self-Rated (MADRS-S), and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) were administered over the telephone and via the Internet to a clinical sample (N=82) of psychiatric patients at a clinic specializing in Internet-delivered treatment. Shortened versions of the LSAS-SR and the ISI were used when administered via telephone. RESULTS: As predicted, the results showed that the estimates produced by the two administration formats were highly correlated (r=.82-.91; P<.001) and internal consistencies were high in both administration formats (telephone: Cronbach alpha=.76-.86 and Internet: Cronbach alpha=.79-.93). The correlation coefficients were similar across questionnaires and the shorter versions of the questionnaires used in the telephone administration of the LSAS-SR and ISI performed in general equally well compared to when the full scale was used, as was the case with the MADRS-S. CONCLUSIONS: Telephone administration of self-report questionnaires is a valid method that can be used to reduce data loss in routine psychiatric practice as well as in clinical trials, thereby contributing to more accurate symptom estimates.