Julie Ayre1, Daniel S J Costa2, Kirsten J McCaffery1, Don Nutbeam3, Danielle Marie Muscat4. 1. Sydney Health Literacy Lab, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. 2. Pain Management Research Institute, Royal North Short Hospital, St Leonards, Australia. 3. Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. 4. Sydney Health Literacy Lab, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: danielle.muscat@sydney.edu.au.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Existing instruments for assessing health literacy skills in parents have limited scope to inform the design and evaluation of health literacy interventions. In this study we aimed to develop and validate a new performance-based measure of health literacy for Australian parents, the Parenting Plus Skills Index (PPSI). The instrument aimed to assess functional, communicative and critical health literacy skills. METHODS: The PPSI was developed in three phases: 1) Modified Delphi Expert Panel to provide feedback on 34 initial items; 2) Evaluation of psychometric properties of each item using a multidimensional item response theory model in a sample of Australian adults of parenting age (20-44 years) (N = 500); 3) Assessment of subset of items in an independent sample (N = 500). RESULTS: Following the three phases, 13 items were included in the final instrument. Participants scored on average 8.9/13 (69 %). The instrument demonstrated acceptable reliability (r = 0.70) and was significantly correlated with other performance-based health literacy instruments. CONCLUSIONS: The PPSI is a validated 13-item performance-based instrument that assesses health literacy skills for parents in an Australian setting. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The PPSI fills an important gap in available health literacy instruments that may be useful for facilitating development and evaluation of health literacy interventions.
OBJECTIVE: Existing instruments for assessing health literacy skills in parents have limited scope to inform the design and evaluation of health literacy interventions. In this study we aimed to develop and validate a new performance-based measure of health literacy for Australian parents, the Parenting Plus Skills Index (PPSI). The instrument aimed to assess functional, communicative and critical health literacy skills. METHODS: The PPSI was developed in three phases: 1) Modified Delphi Expert Panel to provide feedback on 34 initial items; 2) Evaluation of psychometric properties of each item using a multidimensional item response theory model in a sample of Australian adults of parenting age (20-44 years) (N = 500); 3) Assessment of subset of items in an independent sample (N = 500). RESULTS: Following the three phases, 13 items were included in the final instrument. Participants scored on average 8.9/13 (69 %). The instrument demonstrated acceptable reliability (r = 0.70) and was significantly correlated with other performance-based health literacy instruments. CONCLUSIONS: The PPSI is a validated 13-item performance-based instrument that assesses health literacy skills for parents in an Australian setting. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The PPSI fills an important gap in available health literacy instruments that may be useful for facilitating development and evaluation of health literacy interventions.
Authors: Danielle M Muscat; Julie Ayre; Don Nutbeam; Anne Harris; Lynette Tunchon; Dipti Zachariah; Kirsten J McCaffery Journal: Health Lit Res Pract Date: 2021-10-06