Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) - Portuguese (Brazil)

Domains assessed: Comprehension, Numeracy, Prose: Comprehension

Specific context: Health Promotion

Validation sample population age: Adults: 18 to 64 years, Older Adults: 65+ years

Modes of administration in validation study : Face-to-face

Time Cut-off: 0 minutes

Assessment: Self-reported

Number of items: 44

Sample size in validation study: 794

Language of validated version: English

Scoring categories: Independent scales measuring health literacy on a continuous scale. Scores range between 1 to 4 (for first 5 scales) and 1 to 5 (for scales 6 to 9).

Modern Approach for Tool Development: Yes

Country where validated: Brazil

Content validity: The Health Literacy Questionnaire was adapted using forward-backward translation, consensus conference and cognitive interviews.

Criterion validity: Confirmatory analysis (CFC) using the Diagonally Weighted Least Squares method explored the internal structure of the Brazilian version of the HLQ according to the structure of the original HLQ predefined. The HLQ - Br presented satisfactory fit indices: χ2WLSMV (866 df) =1698.53; p<0.0001; CFI=0.978; TLI=0.976, and RMSEA=0.035 [0.032; 0.037, 90%CI]. The factor loadings of the HLQ - Br items ranged from 0.31 to 0.75. The scales of the HLQ Brazilian version showed small and medium correlations between them, ranging from 0.16 to 0.88

Reliability (Cronbach Alpha): 0.76

Reliability notes: Cronbach’s Alpha and Composite Reliability > 0.76 on eight of the nine scales of the instrument.