Journal of Public Health Medicine 24:106-111 (2002)
© 2002 Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom
Evaluation of the Dartmouth COOP Charts in a large-scale community survey in the United Kingdom
Crispin Jenkinson
Richard Mayou
Ann Day
Andrew Garratt
Ed Juszczak
Crispin Jenkinson, Director of Health Care Outcomes Research, Health Services Research Unit and Director of Research, Picker Institute Europe. Health Services Research Unit, University of Oxford, Institute of Health Sciences, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LF. Picker Institute Europe, King's Mead House, Oxpens Road, Oxford OX1 1RX.
Richard Mayou, Professor of Psychiatry
Ann Day, Research Officer. Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warnford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX.
Andrew Garratt, Co-Director. National Centre for Health Outcomes Development, Unit of Health Care Epidemiology, University of Oxford, Institute of Health Sciences, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LF.
Ed Juszczak, Medical Statistician. Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Institute of Health Sciences, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LF.
Address correspondence to Dr C. Jenkinson, Health Services Reseach Unit, University of Oxford. E-mail: crispin.jenkinson{at}public-health.oxford.ac.uk
Background The aim of this study was to gain population norms for the COOP Charts in a large community sample, and to explore the construct validity, and whether the inclusion of the illustrations influences response rates.
Methods A postal survey was carried out using a questionnaire booklet, containing the COOP Charts and a number of other items concerned with lifestyles and illness, sent to 6007 randomly selected subjects over the age of 18 years. Respondents were randomized to receiving the questionnaire booklet with a copy of the COOP Charts including illustrations, or the same booklet but including the COOP items without illustrations. The sample was drawn from the Family Health Services Authority (FHSA) computerized register for Oxfordshire. Outcome measures were scores for the eight dimensions of the COOP Charts.
Results The survey achieved an adjusted response rate of 56.72 per cent. There was no difference in response rate or scores on the eight dimensions of the COOP Charts when broken down by those who received the illustrated Charts or simply the items from the measure without illustrations. Normative data for the COOP Charts are reported, broken down by age, sex, social class and whether respondent reported chronic illness or not.
Conclusion The illustrations included in the original charts do not appear to influence response rates, or responses given to the questions. The evidence suggests that items of the COOP Charts provide a short and comprehensive survey of health status. The normative data provided in this paper may further facilitate their validation and use.
Keywords: COOP Charts, self-rated health, normative data