Measuring Comprehensive, General Health Literacy in the General Adult Population: The Development and Validation of the HLS19-Q12 Instrument in Seventeen Countries

Background: For improving health literacy (HL) by national and international public health policy, measuring population HL by a comprehensive instrument is needed. A short instrument, the HLS19-Q12 based on the HLS-EU-Q47, was developed, translated, applied, and validated in 17 countries in the WHO European Region. Methods: For factorial validity/dimensionality, Cronbach alphas, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Rasch model (RM), and Partial Credit Model (PCM) were used. For discriminant validity, correlation analysis, and for concurrent predictive validity, linear regression analysis were carried out. Results: The Cronbach alpha coefficients are above 0.7. The fit indices for the single-factor CFAs indicate a good model fit. Some items show differential item functioning in certain country data sets. The regression analyses demonstrate an association of the HLS19-Q12 score with social determinants and selected consequences of HL. The HLS19-Q12 score correlates sufficiently highly (r ≥ 0.897) with the equivalent score for the HLS19-Q47 long form. Conclusions: The HLS19-Q12, based on a comprehensive understanding of HL, shows acceptable psychometric and validity characteristics for different languages, country contexts, and methods of data collection, and is suitable for measuring HL in general, national, adult populations. There are also indications for further improvement of the instrument

Measuring Comprehensive, General Health Literacy in the General Adult Population:The Development and Validation of the HLS19-Q12 Instrument in Seventeen Countries

Background: For improving health literacy (HL) by national and international public health policy, measuring population HL by a comprehensive instrument is needed. A short instrument, the HLS(19)-Q12 based on the HLS-EU-Q47, was developed, translated, applied, and validated in 17 countries in the WHO European Region. Methods: For factorial validity/dimensionality, Cronbach alphas, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Rasch model (RM), and Partial Credit Model (PCM) were used. For discriminant validity, correlation analysis, and for concurrent predictive validity, linear regression analysis were carried out. Results: The Cronbach alpha coefficients are above 0.7. The fit indices for the single-factor CFAs indicate a good model fit. Some items show differential item functioning in certain country data sets. The regression analyses demonstrate an association of the HLS(19)-Q12 score with social determinants and selected consequences of HL. The HLS(19)-Q12 score correlates sufficiently highly (r ≥ 0.897) with the equivalent score for the HLS(19)-Q47 long form. Conclusions: The HLS(19)-Q12, based on a comprehensive understanding of HL, shows acceptable psychometric and validity characteristics for different languages, country contexts, and methods of data collection, and is suitable for measuring HL in general, national, adult populations. There are also indications for further improvement of the instrument

The HLS19-COM-P, a New Instrument for Measuring Communicative Health Literacy in Interaction with Physicians: Development and Validation in Nine European Countries

Background: Sufficient communicative health literacy (COM-HL) is important for patients actively participating in dialogue with physicians, expressing their needs and desires for treatment, and asking clarifying questions. There is a lack of instruments combining communication and HL proficiency. Hence, the aim was to establish an instrument with sufficient psychometric properties for measuring COM-HL. Methods: The HLS19-COM-P instrument was developed based on a conceptual framework integrating HL with central communicative tasks. Data were collected using different data collection modes in nine countries from December 2019 to January 2021 (n = 18,674). Psychometric properties were assessed using Rasch analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Cronbach’s alpha and Person separation index were considered for reliability. Results: The 11-item version (HLS19-COM-P-Q11) and its short version of six items (HLS19-COM-P-Q6) fit sufficiently the unidimensional partial credit Rasch model, obtained acceptable goodness-of-fit indices and high reliability. Two items tend to under-discriminate. Few items displayed differential item functioning (DIF) across person factors, and there was no consistent pattern in DIF across countries. All items had ordered response categories. Conclusions: The HLS19-COM-P instrument was well accepted in nine countries, in different data collection modes, and could be used to measure COM-HL.publishedVersio

HLS19-NAV-Validation of a New Instrument Measuring Navigational Health Literacy in Eight European Countries

To manoeuvre a complex and fragmented health care system, people need sufficient navigational health literacy (NAV-HL). The objective of this study was to validate the HLS19-NAV measurement scale applied in the European Health Literacy Population Survey 2019-2021 (HLS19). From December 2019 to January 2021, data on NAV-HL was collected in eight European countries. The HLS19-NAV was translated into seven languages and successfully applied in and validated for eight countries, where language and survey method differed. The psychometric properties of the scale were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Rasch modelling. The tested CFA models sufficiently well described the observed correlation structures. In most countries, the NAV-HL data displayed acceptable fit to the unidimensional Rasch partial credit model (PCM). For some countries, some items showed poor data-model fit when tested against the PCM, and some items displayed differential item functioning for selected person factors. The HLS19-NAV demonstrated high internal consistency. To ensure content validity, the HLS19-NAV was developed based on a conceptual framework. As an estimate of discriminant validity, the Pearson correlations between the NAV-HL and general health literacy (GEN-HL) scales were computed. Concurrent predictive validity was estimated by testing whether the HLS19-NAV, like general HL measures, follows a social gradient and whether it forms a predictor of general health status as a health-related outcome of general HL. In some countries, adjustments at the item level may be beneficial. Keywords: HLS19 survey; Rasch modelling; confirmatory factor analysis; health care system; health information; health literacy; instrument; navigation; questionnaire; validation.publishedVersio

Navigational health literacy

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Digital health literacy in general populations - An international comparison

Van den Broucke S, Levin-Zamir D, Schaeffer D, et al. Digital health literacy in general populations - An international comparison. In: 16th World Congress on Public Health 2020. Public Health for the future of humanity: analysis, advocacy and action. European Journal of Public Health. Vol 30. Oxford: Oxford Univ Press; 2020

The HLS19-COM-P, a New Instrument for Measuring Communicative Health Literacy in Interaction with Physicians: Development and Validation in Nine European Countries

Finbråten HS, Nowak P, Griebler R, et al. The HLS19-COM-P, a New Instrument for Measuring Communicative Health Literacy in Interaction with Physicians: Development and Validation in Nine European Countries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022;19(18): 11592.Background: Sufficient communicative health literacy (COM-HL) is important for patients actively participating in dialogue with physicians, expressing their needs and desires for treatment, and asking clarifying questions. There is a lack of instruments combining communication and HL proficiency. Hence, the aim was to establish an instrument with sufficient psychometric properties for measuring COM-HL. Methods: The HLS19-COM-P instrument was developed based on a conceptual framework integrating HL with central communicative tasks. Data were collected using different data collection modes in nine countries from December 2019 to January 2021 (n = 18,674). Psychometric properties were assessed using Rasch analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Cronbach’s alpha and Person separation index were considered for reliability. Results: The 11-item version (HLS19-COM-P-Q11) and its short version of six items (HLS19-COM-P-Q6) fit sufficiently the unidimensional partial credit Rasch model, obtained acceptable goodness-of-fit indices and high reliability. Two items tend to under-discriminate. Few items displayed differential item functioning (DIF) across person factors, and there was no consistent pattern in DIF across countries. All items had ordered response categories. Conclusions: The HLS19-COM-P instrument was well accepted in nine countries, in different data collection modes, and could be used to measure COM-HL

Digital health literacy in general populations – An international comparison

Background: Due to the digital transformation in late modern society, digital (or e-) health literacy (DHL) is becoming increasingly relevant for people to take health related decisions. Yet despite its importance for evidence-based policy, very few tools have been developed to measure DHL, and even fewer studies have measured DHL in general populations. The Action Network on Measuring Population and Organizational Health Literacy (M-POHL) is one of the first to include a measure of DHL and its relevant correlates in the Health Literacy Survey 2019 (HLS19). Methods: Based on an existing instrument (Van der Vaart & Drossaert, 2017), adapted to the format of the HLS-EU questionnaire for measuring comprehensive health literacy, 10 items with four Likert categories were developed to measure self-reported DHL, as well as 6 questions measuring the use of digital resources to obtain health related information and communicate with their health care system, as an optional package of the HLS19 study. Ten of the 15 countries participating in HLS19 included this optional package into their national survey. Data were collected from probability samples of at least 1.000 respondents per country, taken from the general population 18+ by personal interviews, telephone interviews or internet. Results: For comparisons between countries, distributions of the answers to single items as well as psychometric validation and descriptive data for an index of DHL will be presented. Associations of DHL with general comprehensive health literacy, with the use of digital resources, and with other selected correlates based on correlational and regression analysis will also be presented comparatively for countries. Conclusions: This study is the first to present standardized comparative data for the distributions of DHL and its correlates in the general population of WHO-Europe region Member States. The relevance of these results for national and European health policy will be discussed

HLS19-NAV—Validation of a New Instrument Measuring Navigational Health Literacy in Eight European Countries

Griese L, Finbråten HS, Francisco R, et al. HLS19-NAV—Validation of a New Instrument Measuring Navigational Health Literacy in Eight European Countries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022;19(21): 13863.To manoeuvre a complex and fragmented health care system, people need sufficient navigational health literacy (NAV-HL). The objective of this study was to validate the HLS19-NAV measurement scale applied in the European Health Literacy Population Survey 2019–2021 (HLS19). From December 2019 to January 2021, data on NAV-HL was collected in eight European countries. The HLS19-NAV was translated into seven languages and successfully applied in and validated for eight countries, where language and survey method differed. The psychometric properties of the scale were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Rasch modelling. The tested CFA models sufficiently well described the observed correlation structures. In most countries, the NAV-HL data displayed acceptable fit to the unidimensional Rasch partial credit model (PCM). For some countries, some items showed poor data–model fit when tested against the PCM, and some items displayed differential item functioning for selected person factors. The HLS19-NAV demonstrated high internal consistency. To ensure content validity, the HLS19-NAV was developed based on a conceptual framework. As an estimate of discriminant validity, the Pearson correlations between the NAV-HL and general health literacy (GEN-HL) scales were computed. Concurrent predictive validity was estimated by testing whether the HLS19-NAV, like general HL measures, follows a social gradient and whether it forms a predictor of general health status as a health-related outcome of general HL. In some countries, adjustments at the item level may be beneficial