title: Development of a questionnaire for quantitative assessment in the field of health and human rights.
abstract: We hypothesize that a human rights framework would be able to analyse central health-related societal issues within important settings like the work place, the family or the health care system. Our study goal was the development and population-based evaluation of a questionnaire for assessment of the perceived human rights status. A questionnaire (HR-14) was developed from the guiding principles of international human rights legislation. For its psychometric evaluation, computer-assisted telephone interviews were conducted in four cities in Europe (Munich, Dresden, Vienna and Bern). Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency was 0.76. Factor analysis supported the concept of human rights as indivisible and interdependent. Extracted factors were consistent with the preliminary settings of family and friends, health care system and community at large, and a supplementary setting workplace. Perceived human rights status was associated with physical function, mental/emotional health, age, study region, general health and employment status. We conclude that it is possible to develop a human rights questionnaire with good psychometric properties. Measurement of the perceived human rights status of populations and population groups may contribute to health policies sensitive to human rights.
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Public Health Research Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Tegernseer Landstr 243, D-81549, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wildner
authors.forename: Richela
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brunner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001317:Austria; D005060:Europe; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006806:Human Rights / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012935:Social Justice; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland; D014504:Urban Health; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data