Does interview mode matter for food security measurement? Telephone versus in-person interviews in the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether interview mode (telephone vs. in-person) affects the results of surveys that measure food security. DESIGN: Responses given by households interviewed by telephone and in-person in recent US Current Population Survey Food Security Supplements (CPS-FSS) were compared. Statistical methods based on the Rasch measurement model were used to assess whether response patterns differed between the two interview modes. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was then used to gauge the effect of interview mode on the measured household prevalence rates of food insecurity and very low food security while controlling for income, employment, household structure, and other household characteristics that affect food security. RESULTS: Response patterns to the indicators that comprise the food security scale did not differ substantially between interview modes. Prevalence rates of food insecurity and very low food security estimated from the two interview modes differed by only small proportions after accounting for differences in the socio-economic characteristics of households. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that effects of interview mode on food security measurement in the CPS-FSS are small, or at most modest. Prevalence estimates may be biased upwards somewhat for households interviewed in-person compared with those interviewed by telephone. The extent to which these results can be generalised may depend, to some extent, on survey characteristics other than interview mode, such as surveyor name recognition and respondents' trust and confidence in the surveyor.

Recent advances provide improved tools for measuring children's food security.

Food security, or consistent access to adequate food, is important for children's health and development. The first U.S. assessment of children's food security was conducted in 1995 using the U.S. Household Food Security Scale, a measure based on 18 survey questions developed by the USDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Three recent developments have improved on that early measurement method and expanded the scope for assessing children's food security. 1) Development of the Children's Food Security Scale, based only on the 8 child-referenced questions in the U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module, improved the measurement of children's food security and was found to have excellent internal validity. 2) Questions indicating severe ranges of food insecurity and referenced to an individual child (answered by an adult proxy) were tested in a national health survey and found to have acceptable internal validity. 3) A food security measure based on a self-administered module was validated (internal validation only) for children > or =12 y of age. Children's food security is correlated with that of adults in the same household, but the relation depends on the ages of children, such that separate measures of children's and adults' food security appear to provide better assessment than a single measure that attempts to represent both. Further research is needed to assess the relation between food security and children's diet quality/variety and the effects of children's food security on their health and development.