Cognitive testing of physical activity and acculturation questions in recent and long-term Latino immigrants

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Gordon B Willis¹  David Berrigan¹  Barbara H Forsyth²  Alicia Norberg³  Kerry Levin³  Cynthia Helba³ 

[1] Applied Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Executive Plaza North MSC 7344, 20892-7344, Bethesda, MD, USA;Center for Advanced Study of Language, University of Maryland, Box 25, 20742-0025, College Park, MD, USA;Westat, 1650 Research Boulevard, 20850, Rockville, MD, USA;

关键词: Physical Activity;    National Health Interview Survey;    Recent Immigrant;    Cognitive Interview;    Question Wording;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-10-481

 received in 2009-12-18, accepted in 2010-08-13,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundWe ascertained the degree to which language (English versus Spanish), and residence time in the US influence responses to survey questions concerning two topics: self-reported acculturation status, and recent physical activity (PA). This topic is likely to be of general interest because of growing numbers of immigrants in countries worldwide.MethodsWe carried out qualitative (cognitive) interviews of survey items on acculturation and physical activity on 27 Latino subjects from three groups: (a) In Spanish, of those of low residence time (less than five years living in the U.S.) (n = 9); (b) In Spanish, of those of high residence time (15 or more years in the U.S) (n = 9); and (c) in English, of those of high residence time (n = 9).ResultsThere were very few language translation problems; general question design defects and socio-cultural challenges to survey responses were more common. Problems were found for both acculturation and PA questions, with distinct problem types for the two question areas. Residence time/language group was weakly associated with overall frequency of problems observed: low residence time/Spanish (86%), high residence time/Spanish (67%), and English speaking groups (62%).ConclusionsStandardized survey questions related to acculturation and physical activity present somewhat different cognitive challenges. For PA related questions, problems with such questions were similar regardless of subject residence time or language preference. For acculturation related questions, residence time/language or education level influenced responses to such questions. These observations should help in the interpretation of survey results for culturally diverse populations.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Berrigan et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010