Evaluation of Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of Health Literacy Scale

Aim: The aim of this research is to investigate the reliability and the validity of the Turkish form of Health Literacy Scale.

Method: Research was carried out between December 2014 and January 2015 in a University Medical Faculty Hospital. Written permission from the hospital ethics commitee and from the patients were obtained . Study consisted of 250 voluntary patients over 18 years old. Content validity index, Cronbach alpha, test-retest reliability, item total item correlation, confirmatory and principal factor analysis were used to evaluate the reliability and the validity.

Results: Test-retest reliability coefficient was r= .74, p≤ .05. Alpha coefficients for the scale was 0.92 and 0.62 - 0.79 for the subscales. Item-total correlations were between .20 and .72 (p = .05). Correlations between the scale and the subscales were 0.74 - 0.91(p<0.01). Test-retest reliability coefficient was found r= .74. Mean score of the scale was 90.30±12.35 and for the subscales were between18.64 ± 3.17 and 30.08 ± 4.65. Factor analysis yielded a scale with four subscales covering 25 items.

Conclusion: Turkish version of Health Literacy Scale was found a reliable and valid tool to measure health literacy among the Turkish population