Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108602

Susan Koch-Weser, ScD¹, Dorcas Grigg-Saito, MS², Sidney Liang, BS³, and Sheila Och³. (1) Dept. of Society, Human Dev., and Health, Harvard University, 677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge 7th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, 617-582-8365, susan_koch-weser@dfci.harvard.edu, (2) Lowell Community Health Center, 585 Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA 01854, (3) Cambodian Community Health 2010 Program, Lowell Community Health Center, 15-17 Warren Street, 3rd FLoor, Lowell, MA 01852

The Cambodian Community Health 2010 Project in Lowell, Massachusetts conducted a community health survey of 381 adults 25 and older from December 2001 to June 2002. Questions from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) were included so that results could be compared to other populations. Our survey development and translation process was designed to lead to questions appropriate to the language, culture, and educational level of community members. A first English draft of the survey was written and then revised on the basis of input from Cambodian community advisors, human service workers, medical professionals, and researchers familiar with the Cambodian community. The first translated draft was pilot tested, reviewed by bilingual human service staff, and translated back into English. Based on the back translation, pilot testing results, and staff comments, we revised the survey, both the English and the Khmer versions. The revised Khmer survey was translated back into English again and finalized. We drew a representative sample from the community using census blocks and listing households. We trained bilingual, bi-cultural interviewers in scientific survey techniques. And finally we conducted the survey. The response rate was 94%. An overview of the key lessons learned from the process will be presented.

Learning Objectives: