Consistency in the Reporting of Sexual Behavior: An Analysis of an Interview Mode Experiment in São Paulo, Brazil

Barbara S. Mensch, Population Council
Paul C. Hewett, Population Council
Heidi Jones, Population Council
Carla Gianni Luppi, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericordia de Sao Paulo
Sheri A. Lippman, University of California, Berkeley
Adriana Pinho, Centro de Estudos, Augusto Leopoldo Ayrosa Galvão (CEALAG)
Juan Diaz, Population Council

This paper examines data from a study evaluating home- versus clinic-based screening and diagnosis for STIs among over 800 women visiting a clinic in São Paulo, Brazil. In addition to random assignment to home or clinic screening for STIs, women were randomized at enrollment to either a face-to-face interviewer-administered survey or an audio-computer assisted self-interview. The enrollment interview included basic questions on the participant’s background, reproductive behavior, sexual behavior, contraceptive use, and prior STIs. At the six week follow-up interview, which was conducted with the computer for all participants, many of the same questions on sexual behavior, partners, and condom use were repeated as were questions on births, pregnancies, and abortion. The objectives of this paper are to investigate the consistency in reporting of sexual behavior at the enrollment interview by interview mode as well as consistency in reporting between enrollment and the six-week follow-up by interview mode.