Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, University Unit, Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya, P.O. Box 70, Galle, Sri Lanka.
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka.
BMC Public Health. 2017 Dec 29;17(1):984. doi: 10.1186/s12889-017-4993-1.
Telephone survey (TS) has been a popular tool for conducting health surveys, particularly in developed countries. However, the feasibility, and reliability of TS are not adequately explored in Sri Lanka. The main aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of telephone-based survey in estimating the prevalence of common non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Sri Lanka.
We carried out an observational cross-sectional study using telephone interview method in Galle district, Sri Lanka. The study participants were selected randomly from the residents living in the households with fixed land telephone lines. The prevalence of the main NCDs was estimated using descriptive statistics.
Overall, 975 telephone numbers belonging to six main areas of Galle district were called, and 48% agreed to participate in the study. Of the non-respondents, 22% actively declined to participate. Data on NCDs were gathered from 1470 individuals. The most common self-reported NCD was hypertension (17.%), followed by diabetes (16.3%) and dyslipidaemia (15.6%). Smoking was exclusively seen in males (7.4%), and regular alcohol use was significantly more common in males (19.2%) than females (0.4%, P < .001).
Our study revealed average response rate for telephone based interview in Sri Lankan setting. Overall prevalence of main NCDs in this study showed a comparable prevalence to studies used face to face interview method. This study supports the potential use of telephone-based survey to assess heath related information in Sri Lanka.
电话调查（TS）已成为进行健康调查的一种流行工具，尤其是在发达国家。然而，在斯里兰卡，TS 的可行性和可靠性尚未得到充分探讨。本研究的主要目的是评估基于电话的调查在估计斯里兰卡常见非传染性疾病（NCDs）患病率方面的有效性。
我们在斯里兰卡加勒地区进行了一项基于电话访谈方法的观察性横断面研究。研究参与者是从有固定陆地电话线的家庭中随机选择的居民。使用描述性统计方法估计主要 NCD 的患病率。
总共拨打了 975 个属于加勒地区六个主要区域的电话号码，其中 48%同意参与研究。未回复者中有 22%主动拒绝参与。从 1470 个人中收集了 NCD 数据。最常见的自我报告的 NCD 是高血压（17.0%），其次是糖尿病（16.3%）和血脂异常（15.6%）。吸烟仅见于男性（7.4%），而定期饮酒在男性（19.2%）中明显比女性（0.4%，P<0.001）更为常见。
我们的研究揭示了斯里兰卡基于电话的访谈的平均回复率。本研究中主要 NCD 的总体患病率与使用面对面访谈方法的研究显示出可比的患病率。这项研究支持在斯里兰卡使用基于电话的调查来评估健康相关信息的潜力。
