Question Context and Priming Meaning of Health: Effect on Differences in Self-Rated Health Between Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Whites.

• Autores: Sunghee Lee, Norbert Schwarz
• Localización: American journal of public health, ISSN 0090-0036, Vol. 104, Nº. 1, 2014, págs. 179-185
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Objectives. We examined the implications of the current recommended data collection practice of placing self-rated health (SRH) before specific health-related questions (hence, without a health context) to remove potential context effects, between Hispanics and non-Hispanics. Methods. We used 2 methodologically comparable surveys conducted in English and Spanish that asked SRH in different contexts: before and after specific health questions. Focusing on the elderly, we compared the influence of question contexts on SRH between Hispanics and non-Hispanics and between Spanish and English speakers. Results. The question context influenced SRH reports of Spanish speakers (and Hispanics) significantly but not of English speakers (and non-Hispanics). Specifically, on SRH within a health context, Hispanics reported more positive health, decreasing the gap with non-Hispanic Whites by two thirds, and the measurement utility of SRH was improved through more consistent mortality prediction across ethnic and linguistic groups. Conclusions. Contrary to the current recommendation, asking SRH within a health context enhanced measurement utility. Studies using SRH may result in erroneous conclusions when one does not consider its question context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]