Matthew Kerry, Thanh Elsener
Study aims English is the fourth most-used language in Switzerland at 6%, yet no health survey has specifically sampled English-speaking respondents, despite having compulsory health insurance. The purpose of this prospective survey is to explore the feasibility of collecting empirical evidence on the health status of English-speaking respondents living in Switzerland. In addition to reporting psychometrics, we further examine substantive correlates of subjective health, such as migration status, residency duration, and planned residency in Switzerland. Methods A cross-sectional design with purposive sampling was used to collect n = 156 English-speaking respondents between December 2024 and January 2025. The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS-29 v2.1) was administered. Several sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, education, income, chronic condition, migration background, nationality, and employment) were also collected to inspect the convergent validity of the PROMIS-29 with external correlates. The measurement properties inspected included descriptives (normality and floor/ceiling effects), internal consistency reliability ( ω ≥ 0.70), structural validity [root-mean-squared error of approximation (RMSEA) < 0.06], and convergent validity (correlation r = 0.30–0.50). Results N = 156 of 215 respondents completed the health survey (73% completion). A chronic condition was reported by 45% of the respondents. Regarding instrumentation, 5/7 scales exhibited normal distributions, and all scales exhibited high reliability (0.83–0.93). Structural validity evidence was mostly supported, but the smaller sample size compromised the overall comparative fit index (0.93). Finally, all scales exhibited moderate-strong convergence validity with self-rated health ( r = 0.29–0.58). Conclusion English-speaking respondent uptake seems to be feasible with a relatively high completion rate of 73%. Furthermore, a preliminary inspection of psychometrics indicated good quality evidence. Future research should expand on questions regarding health service utilization and remaining psychometric criteria, such as criterion validity, responsiveness, and cross-cultural validity with Switzerland’s three primary spoken languages.