CDC to study use of mobile tech in surveys

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will pilot test the efficacy of using basic text messages via mobile phones and Web-based messages via smartphones in public health surveillance for programs such as smoking cessation, according to a notice published in the Federal Register.

The pilot will compare results of the mobile phone survey with those from an older survey method, computer-assisted telephone (call center) interviewing, the CDC announcement said.

“New mobile communications technologies provide a unique opportunity for innovation in public health surveillance. Text messaging and smartphone Web access are immediate, accessible, and anonymous, a combination of features that could make smartphones ideal for the ongoing research, surveillance, and evaluation of risk behaviors and health conditions, as well as targeted dissemination of information,” the CDC said.

The CDC seeks to learn if there are response or coverage biases in mobile phone surveys compared with call-center surveys, the relative cost-effectiveness of mobile phone surveys, and the utility of using the devices for completing frequent, short interviews. The CDC estimates it will contact several thousand potential survey candidates during the year-long pilot using CATI, text messages and smartphones.

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