Purdie D M, Dunne M P, Boyle F M, Cook M D, Najman J M
Population and Clinical Sciences Division, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Australia.
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2002 Oct;56(10):748-53. doi: 10.1136/jech.56.10.748.
To assess the representativeness of survey participants by systematically comparing volunteers in a national health and sexuality survey with the Australian population in terms of self reported health status (including the SF-36) and a wide range of demographic characteristics.
A cross sectional sample of Australian residents were compared with demographic data from the 1996 Australian census and health data from the 1995 National Health Survey.
The Australian population.
A stratified random sample of adults aged 18-59 years drawn from the Australian electoral roll, a compulsory register of voters. Interviews were completed with 1784 people, representing 40% of those initially selected (58% of those for whom a valid telephone number could be located).
Participants were of similar age and sex to the national population. Consistent with prior research, respondents had higher socioeconomic status, more education, were more likely to be employed, and less likely to be immigrants. The prevalence estimates, means, and variances of self reported mental and physical health measures (for example, SF-36 subscales, women's health indicators, current smoking status) were similar to population norms.
These findings considerably strengthen inferences about the representativeness of data on health status from volunteer samples used in health and sexuality surveys.
通过系统比较一项全国健康与性调查中的志愿者与澳大利亚人口在自我报告的健康状况（包括SF-36量表）及一系列人口统计学特征方面的情况，评估调查参与者的代表性。
将澳大利亚居民的横断面样本与1996年澳大利亚人口普查的人口统计学数据以及1995年全国健康调查的健康数据进行比较。
澳大利亚人口。
从澳大利亚选民登记册（一份强制性选民登记册）中抽取的18 - 59岁成年人的分层随机样本。对1784人完成了访谈，占最初选定人数的40%（占能找到有效电话号码人数的58%）。
参与者在年龄和性别上与全国人口相似。与先前研究一致，受访者的社会经济地位更高、受教育程度更高、就业可能性更大且移民可能性更小。自我报告的心理和身体健康指标（例如，SF-36量表各子量表、女性健康指标、当前吸烟状况）的患病率估计值、均值和方差与总体标准相似。
这些发现极大地增强了关于健康与性调查中使用的志愿者样本健康状况数据代表性的推断。
