The Children’s Health Act of 2000 set the stage for a proposed national study of some 100,000 children to investigate health-related mechanisms of developmental disorders and environmental factors, both risk and protective. Critical to the effort’s success is the collection of human activity data to identify potential sources of pollutants and child behaviors that result in exposures to those pollutants. A pocket-sized questionnaire data collection device that enables parents to easily input information would be a valuable tool for these studies.

HPC Advantanges Over Laptop: Longer battery life Lighter weight, pocket-sized Instant “ON” (no load time) No moving parts, more reliable data storage Intuitive response selection: tap the response shown on the screen (no need to steer a mouse) HPC Advantages over Pen and Paper: Data recorded electronically, eliminating later re-entry Skip mechanisms, error checks, audit logs reduce data cleaning time Direct data transfer to host database via USB, modem, or Ethernet connection Discrepancies or missing data identified soon after data collection

Handheld personal computers (HPCs) have been used successfully by subjects to record their daily activities in medical and dietary research. Other questionnaire and activity data collection methods include laptop PCs and the pen-and-paper method. The advantages of the HPC over a laptop include greater portability, quicker data input time, and longer operation between battery recharges. Compared with the pen-and-paper method, the HPC reduces overall data entry and cleaning time and enhances ability to find data discrepancies quickly, thus permitting the survey team to contact the subject soon after data collection to solve the problem.

Battelle’s preliminary HPC evaluation study compared the ability of participants to record exposure assessment questionnaire data using the HPC or the paper method. Participants listened to a computer-synthesized voice provide the response to each question, and then recorded the data either on paper or with the HPC. The exposure assessment questionnaires contained both closed-ended questions, requiring selection between multiple-choice answers, and open-ended questions, requiring written responses.

So that participants could serve as their own controls, and to eliminate a learning effect, half first used the paper method to record the questionnaire, while the other half first used the HPC. During a second session, each participant used the alternative method. Sessions were conducted at least four days apart. Participants then filled out a subjective questionnaire that allowed them to express whether they liked, or had confidence in, the two techniques.

Fourteen subjects, ranging from 22 to 62 years of age, participated in the preliminary study; 79 percent had never previously used a HPC. The results demonstrated that the HPC method can collect closed-ended questionnaire data faster, even for first-time users with little start-up training. When inputting open-ended data, the HPC method was about 30 percent slower, though text entries were always legible, unlike some participants’ handwriting in the paper method. The HPC is more accurate than paper, largely because skip mechanisms, error checks, and date/time audit logs are programmed into the questionnaire. All participants liked using the HPC, and most (79 percent) preferred it to the paper method. The time from data collection to review is much faster, as data can be transferred automatically to the host database via a modem, USB, or Ethernet connection.

For further information, contact Marielle Brinkman at (614) 424-5277, brinkmmc@battelle.org.