Mobile Phone Questionnaires for Sexual Risk Data Collection Among Young Women in Soweto, South Africa

BACKGROUND: Recall and social desirability bias undermine self-report of paper-and-pencil questionnaires. Mobile phone questionnaires may overcome these challenges. We assessed and compared sexual risk behavior reporting via in-clinic paper-and-pencil and mobile phone questionnaires. METHODS: HVTN 915 was a prospective cohort study of 50 adult women in Soweto, who completed daily mobile phone, and eight interviewer-administered in-clinic questionnaires over 12 weeks to assess sexual risk. RESULTS: Daily mobile phone response rates were 82% (n=3486/4500); 45% (n=1565/3486) reported vaginal sex (median sex acts 2 (IQR:1–3)) within 24 hours and 40% (n=618/1565) consistent condom. Vaginal sex reporting was significantly higher via mobile phone across all visits (p