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The reliability of the Minimum European Health Module

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International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives:

The Minimum European Health Module (MEHM) consists of 3 global questions concerning 3 health domains: self-perceived health, chronic conditions and long-term activity limitation. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the reliability of the MEHM.

Methods:

Participants of the Belgian Food Consumption Survey were interviewed twice: 170 individuals were selected for the MEHM reliability evaluation. For each of the 3 questions Pearson and Kappa coefficients were estimated. Analyses were stratified by gender, age, education, language and time between the interviews.

Results:

The Pearson correlations are between 0.73 and 0.81. The Kappa estimates are good or excellent: 0.74 (self-perceived health), 0.77 (chronic conditions) and 0.68 (activity limitation). Also stratified analyses indicated in general an acceptable reliability.

Conclusion:

The MEHM has an acceptable reliability.

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Correspondence to Bianca Cox.

Additional information

Submitted: 10 December 2007; revised: 13 May 2008; accepted: 02 October 2008

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Cox, B., Oyen, H.V., Cambois, E. et al. The reliability of the Minimum European Health Module. Int J Public Health 54, 55–60 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-009-7104-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-009-7104-y

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