A tool to assess sex-gender when selecting health research projects

Abstract

Objective: To validate the questionnaire “Gender Perspective in Health Research” (GPIHR) to assess the inclusion of gender perspective in research projects. Design: Validation study in two stages. Feasibility was analysed in the first, and reliability, internal consistence and validity in the second. Where: Aragón Institute of Health Science, Aragón, Spain. Participants: GPIHR was applied to 118 research projects funded in national and international competitive tenders from 2003 to 2012. Main measurements: Analysis of inter- and intra-observer reliability with Kappa index and internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha. Content validity analysed through literature review and construct validity with an exploratory factor analysis. Results: Validated GPIHR has 10 questions: 3 in the introduction, 1 for objectives, 3 for methodology and 3 for research purpose. Average time of application was 13 min Inter-observer reliability (Kappa) varied between 0.35 and 0.94 and intra-observer between 0.40 and 0.94. Theoretical construct is supported in the literature. Factor analysis identifies three levels of GP inclusion: “difference by sex”, “gender sensitive” and “feminist research” with an internal consistency of 0.64, 0.87 and 0.81, respectively, which explain 74.78% of variance. Conclusions: GPIHR questionnaire is a valid tool to assess GP and useful for those researchers who would like to include GP in their projects.

Keywords

• Questionnaire
• Sex
• Gender
• Research
• Validity and reliability