Measuring health literacy - the Swedish Functional Health Literacy scale.

Scand J Caring Sci

Department of Public Health and Caring Science, Social medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.

Published: March 2015

Background: The benefits of health promotion efforts vary due to a complexity of reasons. One possible reason for an absence of effects is the level of functional health literacy among the individuals that participate in the interventions. Thus, valid and reliable instruments that capture these kinds of skills are needed. The aim of this study was to develop a Swedish Functional Health Literacy scale to use in health promotion and health prevention by translating the Japanese Functional Health Literacy scale into Swedish and testing some aspects of its validity and test-retest reliability.

Methods: The research project comprised six phases including translation and back translation, validity tests of the two first versions of the instrument based on interviews with professionals and representatives for the target group of the instrument, and a test-retest of the first version among target groups.

Results: The items in the first two versions were experienced as unclear, which led to improvements of the next version. The final version of the translated instrument (the Swedish Functional Literacy scale) showed evidence of content validity, and the test-retest confirmed that the instrument had stability over time with a percentage agreement for the items ranging from 63% to 92% (M = 77.2%).

Conclusion: The items in the Swedish version of the scale are equivalent to the original Japanese scale in terms of language and contents and cover the major aspects of functional health literacy as it is defined in the literature. The translated instrument shows stability over time, that is, reliability, at least for a part of the Swedish population. More validity tests of the Swedish Functional Health Literacy scale based on a broader population are needed.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/scs.12125DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

health literacy
28
functional health
24
literacy scale
20
swedish functional
16
health
9
literacy
8
health promotion
8
validity test-retest
8
validity tests
8
translated instrument
8

Similar Publications

Use and acceptance of video consultation among adults insured by statutory health insurance provider in Germany: A nationwide online survey.

Z Evid Fortbild Qual Gesundhwes

January 2025

Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, Bremen, Germany; Leibniz ScienceCampus Digital Public Health Bremen (LSC DiPH), Bremen, Germany; Faculty of Human and Health Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.

Introduction: The increasing digitalization of the healthcare system makes it possible to provide medical services using digital technologies without direct patient-provider contact. This study aimed to investigate 1) the use and acceptance of video consultation and 2) factors associated with the use of video consultation.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in February 2023.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate pain characteristics, opioid misuse prevalence, and the relationship between healthliteracy and pain catastrophising in patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).

Design: This was a cross-sectional study.

Methods: Data were collected from patients with SCD in Oman.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Psychological process and risk factors of juvenile delinquency: Evidence from a qualitative analysis.

Child Abuse Negl

January 2025

Department of Psychology, Institute of Special Environmental Medicine, Nantong University, 9 Seyuan Road, Nantong 226019, Jiangsu Province, China.

Objectives: In recent years, juvenile delinquency has continued to occur at a high rate, necessitating attention to its criminal psychological process and underlying risk factors.

Methods: This study acquired psychological review data from 97 juvenile delinquents in China. Utilizing qualitative analysis, we delved into the psychological processes and risk factors that contribute to juvenile delinquency, aiming to reveal the psychological mechanisms involved.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The internet is a key source of health information, but the quality of content from popular search engines varies, posing challenges for users-especially those with low health or digital health literacy. To address this, the "tala-med" search engine was developed in 2020 to provide access to high-quality, evidence-based content. It prioritizes German health websites based on trustworthiness, recency, user-friendliness, and comprehensibility, offering category-based filters while ensuring privacy by avoiding data collection and advertisements.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Readability is important to consider when developing informed consent communications for prospective research participants, but not the most important consideration. Other factors to consider relate to learning preferences and literacy needs of people recruited to participate in research, as these factors can influence understanding of consent communications. To promote understanding among prospective participants, researchers should take a human-centered approach to develop consent communications.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!