Psychometric Evaluation of Three Translated Measures of Functional Health Literacy among Jordanians

Abstract

Assessment of functional health literacy (FHL) is not integrated into clinical settings in Jordan possibly because relevant psychometric studies are lacking. The aim of this secondary analysis of data on family caregivers ( N = 115) was to evaluate the internal consistency reliability and construct validity of three measures of FHL among Jordanians: the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA), the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine-Revised (REALM-R), and the Single Item Literacy Screener (SILS). Cronbach’s alpha was excellent for the S-TOFHLA (.92), but suboptimal for the REALM-R (.67). In bivariate analysis, FHL measured by the S-TOFHLA and the REALM-R, but not the SILS, was positively associated with educational attainment ( p < .05) and negatively related to self-reported anxiety ( p < .05). Among Jordanians, psychometric rigor was fully demonstrated for the S-TOFHLA and partially for the REALM-R, but not for the SILS.