JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Reliable data about sexual behaviours is fundamental in the prevention and control of HIV, hepatitis, and sexually transmissible infections. Generally, sexual health is regarded as a socio-cultural taboo in Africa and Asia, and this results in biased sexual health survey data quality due to social desirability. Various modes of survey delivery, including an audio computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI), have been investigated to improve data quality.

Objective:

The current study aimed to review the studies which compared ACASI to other survey modes in sexual health surveys in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa to ascertain the impact of survey mode on responses to sexual health questions.

Methods:

A systematic literature review was conducted according to the Joanna Briggs Institute manual for evidence synthesis. The review protocol was registered at PROSPERO. Six databases were searched.

Results:

Twenty-one papers were included. Face-to-face interview was the most frequently compared survey mode to ACASI. Among the most commonly reported outcome variable groups, ACASI participants were more likely to report sexual behaviours such as ‘forced sex’, ‘multiple partners’, ‘transactional sex’ and ‘ever had sex’, when compared to face-to-face interviews. In addition to the survey mode effect, other factors were found to have had an impact on data quality, for example, participant characteristics, social norms, study design and data collection setting.

Conclusions:

Use of ACASI for administering sexual health surveys among populations in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa demonstrated higher reports for some sexual behaviours than face-to-face interviews. More studies that compare ACASI to other survey modes would improve our understanding of the usefulness of using ACASI in sexual health surveys in these regions.