Usefulness of telephone risk factor surveys in the New Mexico border region

Background: We sought to assess prevalence of behavioral risk factors and evaluate the usefulness of survey data gathered by telephone in the New Mexico border region. Methods: This study compared behavioral risk factor data gathered from two probability sample surveys administered in 1998-1999, one by means of a telephone interview and the second face to face. Prevalence estimates for medical care access, injury, and chronic disease risk factors were compared by survey mode, overall, and stratified by income level. Results: Risk factor prevalence estimates based on telephone interviews resemble estimates obtained from face-to-face interviews. Although risk factor prevalence estimated from face-to-face inter-views were in general slightly greater than those from telephone interviews, none of these differences reached statistical significance. When data for each respective survey were examined by income level, prevalence estimates for comparable income groups in both surveys were in general agreement and estimates within survey increased with declining income. Conclusion: In the New Mexico border region, telephone survey data appear to be reasonably valid and offer opportunities for population-based health research.