OBJECTIVES To gain population norms for the short form 36 health survey questionnaire (SF36) in a large community sample and to explore the questionnaire's internal consistency and validity. DESIGN Postal survey by using a booklet containing the SF36 and several other items concerned with lifestyles and illness. SETTING The sample was drawn from computerised registers of the family health s...

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to evaluate the metric properties of a selection of items of the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT) included into 2006 Catalonia Health Survey and adapted to evaluate experiences of primary care (PC) under population perspective. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study. The study population was composed of non-institutionalized residents of Catalon...

BACKGROUND Measurement of socioeconomic position (SEP) over the life course in population health surveillance systems is important for examining differences in health and illness between different population groups and for monitoring the impact of policies and interventions aimed at reducing health inequities and intergenerational disadvantage over time. While face-to-face surveys are considere...

In this paper we consider the appropriateness of education, compared to occupation and income, as a measure of social class for use in health-related studies in developing societies in transition. Three evaluation criteria were used, namely, the feasibility of constructing the measure, its sensitivity in reflecting relevant social class life conditions, and its ability to produce a family-level...

BACKGROUND If the SF-36 summary scores are used as health status measures for the purpose of measuring health inequality it is relevant to be informed about the sources of the inequality in order to be able to target the specific aspects of health with the largest impact. METHODS Data were from a Danish health survey on health status, health behaviour and socio-economic background. Decomposit...

Despite evidence that social contexts are key determinants of health, research into factors associated with maternal health service utilization in Ethiopia has often focused on individual and household factors. The downside is that this underestimates the importance of taking contextual factors into account when planning appropriate interventions in promoting safe motherhood in the country. The...

Population control has been a huge policy issue of the twenty first century and has been a topic of discussion in the world’s capitals. Overuse of natural resources, poverty and high mortality rates were the key issues that raised population control. The data used in this study is taken from the 2008/2009 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for Kenya. The sample used in this study consists a t...

We utilized the most recent Demographic Health Survey data to explore the distribution of feeding practices and examine relationships between complementary feeding and socio-demographic and health behaviour indicators in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. We based our analysis on complementary dietary diversity scores calculated for children 6-23 months old. Geographically, Kenya displayed clear divis...

Establishing the validity of health behavior surveys used in community-based participatory research (CBPR) in diverse populations is often overlooked. A novel, group-based cognitive interviewing method was used to obtain qualitative data for tailoring a survey instrument designed to identify barriers to improved cardiovascular health in at-risk populations in Washington, DC. A focus group-based...

BACKGROUND To determine the equality in safe delivery indices, i.e., appropriate place of delivery, type of delivery and skilled attendant for delivery, and their determinants in Iran. METHODS This study was performed using the data of Iran demographic and health survey, performed in 2000. Our sample was nationally representative and included 17,991 Iranian married women aged 10 - 49 years wh...