title: Impact of Question Wording on the Measurement of Activity Limitation: Evidence From a Randomized Test in France.
abstract: The Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI), a single question measuring disability, had been introduced in various European surveys since 2004. The complexity of its wording has been questioned. Our study compares alternative variants aiming to simplify the wording.
  
  
  
  We used the Health-Related Opinion Survey run in 2014 in France (N = 3,009). Its split sample design allows testing four variants of the questions. We analyzed the prevalence of activity limitation (AL) resulting from the four different constructs of the GALI using multinomial logistic regressions, adjusted for background variables and functional limitations (FLs).
  
  
  
  The alternative GALI variants result in significantly different prevalences compared with the original question, in particular for people with FL. The current variant is more inclusive than the routed variants.
  
  
  
  Our study suggests limited benefits of changing the GALI construct which do not outweigh the costs of breaking the established chronological series of the current variant.
authors: Institut national d'études démographiques (INED), Paris, France cambois@ined.fr.
authors: Emmanuelle
authors: E
authors: Cambois
authors: Direction de la recherche de l'évaluation, des études et des statistiques, Ministry of health (DREES), France.
authors: Sébastien
authors: S
authors: Grobon
authors: Scientific Institute of Public Health (WIV-ISP), Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Herman
authors: H
authors: Van Oyen
authors: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) and Institut National d'Etudes Démographiques (INED), France.
authors: Jean-Marie
authors: JM
authors: Robine
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification*; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D054928:Validation Studies as Topic
keywords: Europe; GALI; disability; indicators; question wording