STD Risk Behavior Assessment Found Easier Using Computer

The authors sought to describe the difference in reporting risk behavior in audio computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI) and face-to-face interviews (FFI) among patients at a public sexually transmitted disease clinic. Randomly selected patients at a Baltimore clinic sequentially took an ACASI-formatted risk behavior assessment and an FFI conducted by a single clinician. Both interview modalities surveyed sexual and drug use behaviors. The investigators compared binary responses using the sign test and compared categorical responses using the Wilcoxon signed rank test to account for repeated measures.

The 671 survey participants affirmed sensitive sexual behaviors such as same-sex contact (p=0.012), receptive rectal sexual exposure (p<0.001), orogenital contact (p<0.001) and a greater number of sex partners in the past month (p<0.001) more frequently with ACASI than FFI. However, researchers found no difference in participant responses to questions on use of illicit drugs or needle sharing.

"Among STD clinic patients, reporting of sensitive sexual risk behaviours to clinicians was much more susceptible to social desirability bias than was reporting of illegal drug use behaviors. In STD clinics where screening of sexual risk is an essential component of STD prevention, the use of ACASI may be a more reliable assessment method than traditional FFI," the investigators concluded.

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