It started with a problem.

Parents are routinly tasked with taking behavioral data on their child for doctors and therapists. The reality is data collection is burdonsome and does not occur for a variety of good reasons. 

As the world navigates the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth services have become an increasingly available in-demand option. This also means that professionals must adopt the latest technology available to support various aspects of service delivery, including providing the highest quality services available via telehealth and providing caregivers with the best tools for the job.  

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The current state of telehealth, travel restrictions, and the age since the last study related to electronic beahvioral data collection supported the need for an ongoing empirical investigation into electronic data collection and the conditions under which optimal levels of data collection may be achieved and maintained. 

This app was part of a study designed to evaluate the use of a mobile-based app data collection system with daily prompts versus traditional pencil-and-paper data collection on the rate of caregiver-collected behavioral data in a telehealth setting utilizing an alternating treatment design with the best treatment final phase.

Results

The total duration of the study took place over 25 days. During each day, there was one opportunity to respond, either using the e-BRC or the traditional BRC data collection. The alternating treatment phase took place across 20 cumulative days, while the final best phase lasted a total of 5 days. The cumulative daily data submission count results of this study are shown in Figure 1. The participant responded at a higher rate during the e-BRC condition than during the BRC condition. 

Alternating Treatment

BRC. During traditional BRC data collection conditions, the participant submitted a total of four daily reports (40% of available opportunities) for a rate of .4 data submissions per session. This is the equivalent of one data submission every two-and-a-half sessions or a prorated rate of 2.8 per week. There was a range of 1-2 data submissions per week.

e-BRC. During e-BRC conditions, the participant submitted a total of ten daily reports (100% of available opportunities) for a rate of 1 data submission per session. This is the equivalent of one data submission per session or a prorated mean rate of seven data submissions per week.  

Final Best Phase

Final Best Phases

During this phase, the participant was only exposed to the e-BRC data collection condition. This phase lasted a total of five days, during which there were a total of five data submissions (100% of available opportunities). This equaled a response rate of 1 per session or a prorated mean of 7 data submissions per week.