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Development and validation of a new instrument for testing functional health literacy in J apanese adults
Author(s) -
Nakagami Katsuyuki,
Yamauchi Toyoaki,
Noguchi Hiroyuki,
Maeda Tohru,
Nakagami Tomoko
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
nursing and health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.563
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1442-2018
pISSN - 1441-0745
DOI - 10.1111/nhs.12087
Subject(s) - cronbach's alpha , health literacy , test (biology) , reliability (semiconductor) , construct validity , content validity , medicine , literacy , concurrent validity , psychology , criterion validity , item response theory , internal consistency , psychometrics , gerontology , clinical psychology , health care , paleontology , power (physics) , physics , pedagogy , quantum mechanics , economics , biology , economic growth
This study aimed to develop a reliable and valid measure of functional health literacy in a J apanese clinical setting. Test development consisted of three phases: generation of an item pool, consultation with experts to assess content validity, and comparison with external criteria (the J apanese H ealth K nowledge T est) to assess criterion validity. A trial version of the test was administered to 535 J apanese outpatients. Internal consistency reliability, calculated by C ronbach's alpha, was 0.81, and concurrent validity was moderate. R eceiver O perating C haracteristics and I tem R esponse T heory were used to classify patients as having adequate, marginal, or inadequate functional health literacy. Both inadequate and marginal functional health literacy were associated with older age, lower income, lower educational attainment, and poor health knowledge. The time required to complete the test was 10–15 min. This test should enable health workers to better identify patients with inadequate health literacy.