Background: In Jamaica, population census began in 1844, and many intercensal ratios
obtained from the census data showed that there is a general high degree of accuracy of the data.
However, statistics from the Jamaican Ministry of Health showed that there are inaccuracies in
health data collected from males using sample surveys.
Objectives: The objectives of the present research are to 1) investigate the accuracy of a
national sample survey, 2) explore the feasibility and quality of using a subnational sample
survey to represent a national survey, 3) aid other scholars in understanding the probability
of using national sample surveys and subnational sample surveys, 4) assess older men’s
evaluation
of their health status, and 5) determine whether dichotomization changes selfevaluated
health status.
Methods: For the current study, the data used in the analysis were originally collected from
2 different sources: 1) the Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions (JSLC) and 2) Survey of Older
Men (SOM). Cross validation of self-evaluated data of men in Jamaica was done with comparable
samples of the complete JSLC data and the SOM data, where men older than 55 years
were selected from each sample.
Results: In study 1, 50.2% of respondents indicated at least good self-evaluated health status
compared with 74.0% in study 2. Statistical associations were found between health status
and survey sample (?2 [df = 5] = 380.34, P , 0.001), self-reported illness and study sample
(?2 [df = 1] = 65.84, P , 0.01, f = 0.16), and health care – seeking behavior and study samples
(?2 [df = 1] = 21.83, P , 0.05, f = 0.10). Substantially more respondents reported an illness in
study 1 (34.3%) than in study 2 (ie, 17.5%).
Conclusion: Clearly, inconsistencies exist in the health data, which indicates that care should
be taken in using sample surveys.