Abstract:
The New Zealand Ministry of Health has expanded its population health survey, the New Zealand Health Survey (NZHS), to include a questionnaire specifically on child health. The principal aim of the NZHS child questionnaire is to collect health data from parents or caregivers that can be used for monitoring population-level child health status, health service utilisation, and the health risk and protective behaviours that have their origins in childhood. Previously, only data collected through child contact with the health system, for example hospital administration records and disease/injury databases, have been available for monitoring child health in New Zealand. This paper reviews the questionnaire development for the child health component of the 2006/2007 New Zealand Health Survey, including topic selection, question development, cognitive-testing, preliminary sample design, final questionnaire drafting, and dress rehearsal testing.
