Development of a Health Literacy Assessment Scale for Asian Immigrant Women in South Korea.
10.12799/jkachn.2015.26.4.330
- Author:
Jisook AN
1
;
Sook Ja YANG
Author Information
1. Department of Nursing, Kyungnam University, Changwon, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Health literacy;
Immigrant;
Women
- MeSH:
Asian Continental Ancestry Group*;
Education;
Emigrants and Immigrants*;
Female;
Focus Groups;
Health Literacy*;
Humans;
Korea*;
Maternal Health;
Reproducibility of Results
- From:Journal of Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing
2015;26(4):330-341
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: This study developed a self-report measure for easy assessing of the health literacy of Asian immigrant women in South Korea. METHODS: After a literature review, focus group interviews, and content validity evaluation, 14 preliminary items were generated. These were translated into Chinese, Vietnamese, and English. Data were collected from 229 Asian immigrant women. Validity and reliability tests were conducted. RESULTS: Factor analysis yielded final 10 items in three factors: primary functional and interactive health literacy, secondary functional and interactive health literacy, and critical health literacy, which explained 61.90% of the total variance of health literacy. In known-group comparisons, health literacy was significantly lower in recent immigrants, those with a low education level, and those with low Korean language proficiency. For convergent validity, health literacy was positively associated with health specific self-efficacy and maternal health knowledge. For criterion-related validity, health literacy was positively associated with the REALM-SF. The overall reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) of the instrument was .773. CONCLUSION: The Health Literacy Assessment Scale for Asian Immigrant Women (HLAS) represents a multidimensional construct which encompasses functional, interactive, and critical health literacy. This self-report HLAS can be a useful and convenient method for appraising the health literacy of Asian immigrant women.
