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Measuring and Exploring Children’s Health Literacy in The Netherlands: Translation and Adaptation of the HLS-Child-Q15

Author

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  • Marla T. H. Hahnraths

    (Department of Family Medicine, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands)

  • Monique Heijmans

    (Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), P.O. Box 1568, 3500 BN Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Torsten M. Bollweg

    (Centre for Prevention and Intervention in Childhood and Adolescence, Faculty of Educational Science, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstrasse 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
    Interdisciplinary Centre for Health Literacy Research, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstrasse 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany)

  • Orkan Okan

    (Centre for Prevention and Intervention in Childhood and Adolescence, Faculty of Educational Science, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstrasse 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
    Interdisciplinary Centre for Health Literacy Research, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstrasse 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany)

  • Maartje Willeboordse

    (Department of Family Medicine, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands)

  • Jany Rademakers

    (Department of Family Medicine, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
    Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), P.O. Box 1568, 3500 BN Utrecht, The Netherlands)

Abstract

As health literacy (HL) is hypothesized to develop throughout life, enhancement during childhood will improve HL and health during life. There are few valid, age-appropriate tools to assess children’s HL. The German-language European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire Adapted for Children (HLS-Child-Q15-DE) is a self-report questionnaire adapted from the adult European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire. This study aims to translate the HLS-Child-Q15 to Dutch and explore the sample’s HL distribution. The HLS-Child-Q15-DE was translated following WHO guidelines and administered digitally to 209 Dutch schoolchildren (eight-to-eleven-year-olds). Its psychometric properties were assessed and the sample’s HL distribution was explored by demographic characteristics. The HLS-Child-Q15-NL had high internal consistency (α = 0.860) and moderate to strong item-total correlations (mean = 0.499). For 6 of the 15 items, >10% of participants answered “do not know”, indicating comprehension problems. Higher HL scores were observed for ten-to-eleven-year-olds (compared with eight-to-nine-year-olds; p = 0.021) and fourth-grade students (compared with third-grade; p = 0.019). This supports the idea that HL evolves throughout life and the importance of schools in this process. With the HLS-Child-Q15-NL, a Dutch measurement instrument of children’s HL is available, although it needs further tailoring to the target group. More research is needed to decrease comprehension problems and to investigate retest reliability and construct validity.

Suggested Citation

  • Marla T. H. Hahnraths & Monique Heijmans & Torsten M. Bollweg & Orkan Okan & Maartje Willeboordse & Jany Rademakers, 2021. "Measuring and Exploring Children’s Health Literacy in The Netherlands: Translation and Adaptation of the HLS-Child-Q15," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-11, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:10:p:5244-:d:554897
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Shuaijun Guo & Xiaoming Yu & Orkan Okan, 2020. "Moving Health Literacy Research and Practice towards a Vision of Equity, Precision and Transparency," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-14, October.
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