Validity and reliability of the public health literacy knowledge scale: The Turkish version

Abstract

Objectives: The identification of health literacy has a crucial role in raising the level of health and improving health consciousness. To measure health literacy based on the public health approach, Pleasant and Kuruvilla developed the Public Health Literacy Knowledge Scale (PHLKS). The availability of PHLKS in different societies will contribute to situational investigation and community awareness by public health professionals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the PHLKS in Turkish society. Design: Cross-sectional study. PHLKS was translated into Turkish. Setting: This study was conducted on a random sample of people from rural and urban family health center in Kütahya Province, located in the West Anatolia Region. Subject: Data were collected by researchers via face-to-face interviews with participants. Intervention: PHLKS was used as an intervention tool. Main outcome measure: Not applicable Results: According to factor analysis, variance in the one-dimensional structure was 52.8%, and the factor loads of 17 items in the scale ranged between 0.39 and 0.72. For internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha was found to be 0.673. The average scores of the public health literacy information level in the rural region were significantly lower than those in the urban region (Z:-3.167, p: 0.002). Conclusion: Although PHLKS can be used as a valid and reliable scale for the Turkish society and culture, it will be beneficial if applied to larger and different sample groups.