TECHNIQUES FOR TAILORING AN INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR PEDIATRIC CONCEPT ELICITATION AND COGNITIVE DEBRIEFING INTERVIEWS

OBJECTIVES: To provide specific recommendations for improving pediatric interview guides (IGs) used in concept elicitation and cognitive debriefing interviews for clinical outcome assessment (COA) development. METHODS: A pediatric concept elicitation IG and a pediatric cognitive debriefing IG were selected from previously conducted studies for review. Prior to being reviewed, both IGs were anonymized in order to remove any information which might disclose the client and/or drug program being evaluated. The IGs were then critically examined in relation to several recent COA best practice publications. Recommendations were made for (1) specific text revisions, (2) adjustments to interviewer instructions, and (3) techniques for supporting continued patient engagement throughout the interview session. Revisions to the IGs are displayed visually in figures to demonstrate clearly where edits were made to the original documents. RESULTS: Recommendations for specific text revisions included tailoring the language to the target age group reading level, and refraining from the use of slang/colloquialism. Interview instructions which were added to the IGs included asking children to “visualize” and/or draw their experiences in order to enhance data quality from the concept elicitation process, giving direct instructions to caregivers to sit behind their child during the interview process in order to not influence their child’s answers, and reminding caregivers not to interrupt their child. For cognitive debriefing IGs, additional instructions were added and techniques suggested for children to highlight any difficult words when reading a question or set of response options. In order to support continued patient engagement, example rapport-building questions were added to the beginning of and throughout both sets of IGs. CONCLUSIONS: Both interview guide and procedural enhancements, in accordance with best measurement practices, can reduce interviewer burden and improve data quality from pediatric interviews.