Measurement of Health Literacy Among Adolescents Questionnaire

Domains assessed: Comprehension

Validation sample population age: Adolescents: 10 to 17 years

Modes of administration in validation study: Paper and pencil, Computer-based

Number of items: 29

Sample size in validation study: 625

Language of validated version: German

Categorical scoring: Yes

Scoring categories: Mean scores are calculated for scale A, B and C, and a sum score for scale D. For scale A, one missing value within twelve items is allowed, whereas in scale B and C each item should be responded. In scale D, missing answers are equated with the answer option “Do not know” and coded as “not right”. More information about scoring categories can be found also in: Loer, A. M., Domanska, O. M., Stock, C., & Jordan, S. (2020). Subjective Generic Health Literacy and Its Associated Factors among Adolescents: Results of a Population-Based Online Survey in Germany. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 17(22), 8682. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228682 Mean score of scale A ranges from 1 to 4 and should be categorized as follows: ≥1 & ≤ 2.5 = “many difficulties in dealing with health-related information” > 2.5 & ≤3 = “some difficulties in dealing with health-related information” > 3 & ≤ 3.5 = “few difficulties in dealing with health-related information” > 3.5 & ≤ 4 = “barely/no difficulties in dealing with health-related information” Mean score of scale B ranges from 1 to 4 and is categorized as follows: ≥1 & ≤ 2,5 = ”low communication/-interaction skills” > 2.5 & ≤ 3 = “moderate communication/-interaction skills” >3 & ≤ 3.5 = “rather high communication/-interaction skills” > 3.5 & ≤ 4 = “high communication/-interaction skills” Mean score of scale C ranges from 1 to 5 and can be categorized as follows: ≥1 and ≤3 = “passive attitudes towards one´s own health and health information” >3 and ≤4 = “partly passive-partly active attitudes towards one´s own health and health information” >4 and ≤5 = “active regarding attitudes towards one´s own health and health information” Sum score of scale D ranges from 0 to 8 and can be categorized as follows: 0 & ≤ 3 = “low health-related knowledge” 4 & ≤ 5 = “moderate health-related knowledge” 6 & ≤ 8 = “high health-related knowledge

Country where validated: Germany

Content validity: Created through a two-stage process: Stage 1 comprised the development and validation of the questionnaire using a literature review, two rounds of cognitive interviews, two focus groups and two rounds of expert assessments by health literacy experts. Stage 2 included a standard pretest (n = 625) of the questionnaire draft to examine the psychometric properties, reliability and different validity aspects.

Reliability notes: The internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach’s ) of the scales A-C varied from 0.54 to 0.77.