In general, studies which compare face-to-face with telephone interviewing tend to report that telephone interviews produce data which is comparable to those obtained by face-to-face interviews (1). To date, only one study has examined the test-retest reliability of the COPM performance and satisfaction scores between face-to-face and telephone interviewing. The conclusion of the researchers was that the rescoring performance and satisfaction using telephone interviewing was less reliable than either face-to-face interviews or a mailed questionnaire, even though the intra-class correlations were all reasonable (2). The COPM authors believe that telephone interviews can work well for the re-assessment, but during the initial assessment, it would be quite challenging as so much of that process is dependent on the therapeutic relationship developed within the interaction as client s identify their priority problems through the face-to-face interview. The COPM authors are not aware of any validation or reliability studies examining the use of telephone interviews using the COPM.
- Carr, E.C.J. & Worth, A. (2001). The use of the telephone for research. Journal of Research in Nursing, 6(1), 511-525.
- Kjeken, I., Dagfinrud, H., Uhlig¸T., Mowinkel, P., & Kvien, T.K , (2005). Reliability of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Journal of Rheumatology, 32(8), 1503-1509.