Reliability and validity of evaluation measures assessed through telephone interviews

Objectives: Follow-up telephone interviewing is an increasingly popular method of quality assurance and therapy evaluation in child and adolescent psychiatry. However, the reliability and validity of data gathered in telephone interviews has not been investigated sufficiently. The current article examines the quality of the information gathered from the parents of former inpatients of a hospital for child and adolescent psychiatry. Methods: In a sample of n = 32 cases a telephone interview was carried out, followed by a personal interview two weeks later. Data from both interviews were analyzed for correlations between the ratings by parents and experts. Results: The results from the telephone interviews indicate sufficient, respectively good reliability and underscore the validity of these data. Conclusions: On the basis of these results, the standardized telephone interview developed in our group and used in the study can be applied as a reliable and valid method of controlling for treatment success in follow-up investigations. As the interview does not entail any great expenditures, it can be used in routine quality assurance.