2024 Volume 22 Issue 2 Pages 51-60
Objectives: This study aimed to develop a scale to measure health literacy (HL) for young adults.
Methods: A 27-item comprehensive HL scale for young adults (CHLSY-27) was developed in this study and administered to 776 college students in six prefectures of Japan in 2022. The validity of the scale was confirmed via factor analysis, which compared the subscales of the developed measure with existing HL scales (HLS-14: The 14-item health literacy scale for Japanese adults) and the concepts used in these scales. The reliability of the scale was assessed using Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω coefficients.
Results: Three factors were extracted via factor analysis. Factor I, “knowledge and judgment,” comprised items related to obtaining, understanding, and evaluating health and medical information; Factor II, “motivation,” comprised items related to willingness to research health and medical information; and Factor III, “communication and action,” comprised items related to communicating with and seeking help from medical professionals. Reliability coefficients α and ω for Factors I-III were .95, .94, and .89, respectively, which were deemed adequate. A significant correlation was observed between CHLSY-27 and HLS-14 scores (r = .52), indicating concurrent validity. The items comprised in Factors I-III corresponded with the three components of HL presented in a previous study, confirming factorial validity. Content validity was confirmed as the CHLSY-27 comprehensively includes the HL concept presented by the World Health Organization.
Conclusion: CHLSY-27 is applicable as a comprehensive HL measurement scale for young adults in Japan.
