BACKGROUND: Scientific evidence on the health status of asylum seekers in Germany and their access to health care is fragmentary. There is a lack of appropriate questionnaires collecting indicators of health status and health care, which enable a meaningful comparison with a reference population. This article presents experiences in designing a questionnaire and findings available from a pilot testing to pave the way to improve design and methods in future studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The questionnaire comprises 28 mainly closed questions on self-reported health status, access to medical care and sociodemographic indicators. In order to guarantee comparability with the general population in Germany, most questions are derived from national health surveys. The questionnaire was translated into seven languages. Pilot testing was conducted between October 2014 and February 2015 in the course of the monthly welfare payments to asylum seekers in three districts of the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. RESULTS: A total of 156 out of 614 contacted asylum seekers participated in the pilot study (response rate: 25.4 %). The completion rate for items concerning health status and health care was satisfactory (> 75 %). Several items regarding sociodemographic data and linguistically complex questions showed the lowest item response rates (< 50 %). We recommend streamlining the questionnaire and using precise, closed and culturally adapted items. CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaire proved to be expedient and practicable to assess relevant indicators of health status and health care provision. It appears that there is scope for improvement regarding the shortening and cultural adaptation of the questionnaire and the range of available translations. After addressing the mentioned limitations and further development, our approach could contribute to measuring regional disparities, differences between asylum seekers and the general population and temporal changes. In order to obtain representative data, the sampling strategy should be optimised.
BACKGROUND: Scientific evidence on the health status of asylum seekers in Germany and their access to health care is fragmentary. There is a lack of appropriate questionnaires collecting indicators of health status and health care, which enable a meaningful comparison with a reference population. This article presents experiences in designing a questionnaire and findings available from a pilot testing to pave the way to improve design and methods in future studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The questionnaire comprises 28 mainly closed questions on self-reported health status, access to medical care and sociodemographic indicators. In order to guarantee comparability with the general population in Germany, most questions are derived from national health surveys. The questionnaire was translated into seven languages. Pilot testing was conducted between October 2014 and February 2015 in the course of the monthly welfare payments to asylum seekers in three districts of the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. RESULTS: A total of 156 out of 614 contacted asylum seekers participated in the pilot study (response rate: 25.4 %). The completion rate for items concerning health status and health care was satisfactory (> 75 %). Several items regarding sociodemographic data and linguistically complex questions showed the lowest item response rates (< 50 %). We recommend streamlining the questionnaire and using precise, closed and culturally adapted items. CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaire proved to be expedient and practicable to assess relevant indicators of health status and health care provision. It appears that there is scope for improvement regarding the shortening and cultural adaptation of the questionnaire and the range of available translations. After addressing the mentioned limitations and further development, our approach could contribute to measuring regional disparities, differences between asylum seekers and the general population and temporal changes. In order to obtain representative data, the sampling strategy should be optimised.