Development of a health literacy assessment instrument related to drinking habit

Abstract

Objective: to develop and verify the validity, reliability, and interpretability of an instrument
to assess Health Literacy regarding drinking habits (HLDH). Method: a methodological study
conducted among people with diabetes enrolled in the Family Health Strategy and consisting of
the following steps: development of the HLDH; verification of content validity by a committee of
judges; pre-test (n=20); reliability estimation (n=62): Cronbach’s alpha (CA), Cohen’s kappa (K)
and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), satisfactory results (≥ 0.60); estimate of concurrent
validity (n=212); interpretability of scores (n=212): range from 0 to 18, with the cut-off point
being ≤ 14 (HLDH inadequate). The SPSS program was used for statistical analyses. Results:
HLDH presented dynamic and adequate application, showing relevance to its content and the
proposed construct. The 18 words presented K > 0.60, CA=0.82 and ICC=0.91. There was a
correction of the HLDH with education (rs=0.537; p=0.000). Interpretability: 31.6% (n=67)
presented inadequate HLDH. Conclusion: HLDH was considered validated, reliable, and with
good interpretability.