Are sexual health survey items understood as intended by African and Asian migrants to Australia? Methods, results and recommendations for qualitative pretesting

Introduction: More research and policy action are needed to improve migrant health in areas such as sexual health and blood-borne viruses (SHBBV). While Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice Surveys (KAPS) can inform planning, there are no SHBBV KAPS suitable for use across culturally and linguistically...

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Main Authors: Vujcich, Daniel, Roberts, Meagan, Brown, Graham, Durham, Jo, Gu, Zhihong, Hartley, Lisa, Lobo, Roanna, Mao, L., Moro, P., Mullens, A., Offord, B., Oudih, E., Reid, Alison
Format: Journal Article
Published: BMJ Journals 2021
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/86910
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author Vujcich, Daniel
Roberts, Meagan
Brown, Graham
Durham, Jo
Gu, Zhihong
Hartley, Lisa
Lobo, Roanna
Mao, L.
Moro, P.
Mullens, A.
Offord, B.
Oudih, E.
Reid, Alison
author_facet Vujcich, Daniel
Roberts, Meagan
Brown, Graham
Durham, Jo
Gu, Zhihong
Hartley, Lisa
Lobo, Roanna
Mao, L.
Moro, P.
Mullens, A.
Offord, B.
Oudih, E.
Reid, Alison
author_sort Vujcich, Daniel
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Introduction: More research and policy action are needed to improve migrant health in areas such as sexual health and blood-borne viruses (SHBBV). While Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice Surveys (KAPS) can inform planning, there are no SHBBV KAPS suitable for use across culturally and linguistically diverse contexts. This study pretests one instrument among people born in Sub-Saharan Africa, South-East and North-East Asia living in Australia. Methods: Employees of multicultural organisations were trained to collect data over three rounds using a hybrid qualitative pretesting method. Two researchers independently coded data. Researchers made revisions to survey items after each round. Responses to feedback questions in the final survey were analysed. Results: Sixty-two participants pretested the survey. Issues were identified in all three rounds of pretesting. Of the 77 final survey respondents who responded to a survey experience question, 21% agreed and 3% strongly agreed with the statement ‘I found it hard to understand some questions/words’. Conclusion: It is essential to pretest SHBBV surveys in migrant contexts. We offer the following pretesting guidance: (1) large samples are needed in heterogeneous populations; (2) intersectionality must be considered; (3) it may be necessary to pretest English language surveys in the participants’ first language; (4) bilingual/bicultural workers must be adequately trained to collect data; (5) results need to be interpreted in the context of other factors, including ethics and research aims; and (6) pretesting should occur over multiple rounds.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-869102022-01-05T06:11:59Z Are sexual health survey items understood as intended by African and Asian migrants to Australia? Methods, results and recommendations for qualitative pretesting Vujcich, Daniel Roberts, Meagan Brown, Graham Durham, Jo Gu, Zhihong Hartley, Lisa Lobo, Roanna Mao, L. Moro, P. Mullens, A. Offord, B. Oudih, E. Reid, Alison Introduction: More research and policy action are needed to improve migrant health in areas such as sexual health and blood-borne viruses (SHBBV). While Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice Surveys (KAPS) can inform planning, there are no SHBBV KAPS suitable for use across culturally and linguistically diverse contexts. This study pretests one instrument among people born in Sub-Saharan Africa, South-East and North-East Asia living in Australia. Methods: Employees of multicultural organisations were trained to collect data over three rounds using a hybrid qualitative pretesting method. Two researchers independently coded data. Researchers made revisions to survey items after each round. Responses to feedback questions in the final survey were analysed. Results: Sixty-two participants pretested the survey. Issues were identified in all three rounds of pretesting. Of the 77 final survey respondents who responded to a survey experience question, 21% agreed and 3% strongly agreed with the statement ‘I found it hard to understand some questions/words’. Conclusion: It is essential to pretest SHBBV surveys in migrant contexts. We offer the following pretesting guidance: (1) large samples are needed in heterogeneous populations; (2) intersectionality must be considered; (3) it may be necessary to pretest English language surveys in the participants’ first language; (4) bilingual/bicultural workers must be adequately trained to collect data; (5) results need to be interpreted in the context of other factors, including ethics and research aims; and (6) pretesting should occur over multiple rounds. 2021 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/86910 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049010 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ BMJ Journals fulltext
spellingShingle Vujcich, Daniel
Roberts, Meagan
Brown, Graham
Durham, Jo
Gu, Zhihong
Hartley, Lisa
Lobo, Roanna
Mao, L.
Moro, P.
Mullens, A.
Offord, B.
Oudih, E.
Reid, Alison
Are sexual health survey items understood as intended by African and Asian migrants to Australia? Methods, results and recommendations for qualitative pretesting
title Are sexual health survey items understood as intended by African and Asian migrants to Australia? Methods, results and recommendations for qualitative pretesting
title_full Are sexual health survey items understood as intended by African and Asian migrants to Australia? Methods, results and recommendations for qualitative pretesting
title_fullStr Are sexual health survey items understood as intended by African and Asian migrants to Australia? Methods, results and recommendations for qualitative pretesting
title_full_unstemmed Are sexual health survey items understood as intended by African and Asian migrants to Australia? Methods, results and recommendations for qualitative pretesting
title_short Are sexual health survey items understood as intended by African and Asian migrants to Australia? Methods, results and recommendations for qualitative pretesting
title_sort are sexual health survey items understood as intended by african and asian migrants to australia? methods, results and recommendations for qualitative pretesting
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/86910