Hälsa på lika villkor - Statens folkhälsoinstitut

Summary
HÄLSA PÅ LIKA VILLKOR 6
This report presents a quality review of the questions in Sweden’s national
public health survey “Health on equal terms”. The questions in the national
public health survey cover physical and mental health, consumption of
pharmaceuticals, contact with healthcare services, dental health, living habits,
financial conditions, work and occupation, work environment, safety and social
relationships. The questionnaire includes some 70 questions on a total of 16
pages. The survey has been conducted every year since 2004.
Many questions in the national public health survey originally come from
surveys previously conducted by county councils. The questions were chosen
and revised in the method group 2 and tested in a pilot study (November 2003).
In the report, the validation of the questions primarily comprises construct
validity, the question's metric capacity to differentiate, previous use of the
question and the inherent dropout ratio of the question. The objective of a
construct validation is to illustrate whether the measure really measures what is
intended to be measured. This was done in part through a theoretical review of
what is intended to be measured and in part through analyses of whether the
question generates expected or meaningful correlations to health status, gender,
socio-economic classes and/or ages. The construct validity of each individual
question was also tested at Statistics Sweden’s measurements laboratory. Test
subjects completed the questionnaire and were asked to explain how they
perceived the questions and their thought process when they answered each
respective question. These tests then resulted in the modification of some
questions. The questions regarding eating habits and physical activity were
prepared in a validation study conducted by the National Food Administration.
This report will be revised regularly.
2 The method group is the workgroup that actively contributed its expertise to formulate this
survey in the best possible way. The method group comprises people from the county councils’
public health units and researchers tied to these units. Representatives from Statistics Sweden and
the National Board of Health and Welfare are also in the group. The group is led by the Swedish
National Institute of Public Health.
STATENS FOLKHÄLSOINSTITUT