OBJECTIVES: We developed and validated the Health Literacy Index for the Community (HLIC) to assess the health literacy of the Korean population within the framework of the Korean National Health and Nutrition and Examination Survey. METHODS: The HLIC was developed through (1) defining the conceptual framework and generating the item pool and (2) finalizing the items and identifying the cut-off value. Interviews were conducted to examine items’ face validity, and a cross-sectional survey was performed to analyze the item-response theory and Rasch models to investigate the instrument’s psychometric properties. RESULTS: In this study of 1,041 participants, most had no difficulty understanding health information; however, 67.9% struggled to assess the reliability of health information from the Internet or media. A 4-factor structure was identified through factor analysis, leading to the exclusion of some items. This resulted in 10 items across 4 domains: (1) disease prevention, (2) health promotion, (3) health care, and (4) technology and resources. The HLIC demonstrated good internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s α of 0.87. It also showed high test-retest reliability and correlations with other health literacy instruments. A socio-demographic analysis of the HLIC revealed disparities in health literacy across various age groups, education levels, and income brackets. CONCLUSIONS The HLIC was developed to systematically measure health literacy in Korea’s general population. Its simplicity and conciseness ensure reliability and validity and improve its accessibility, making it particularly suitable for the broader Korean population, including those with lower literacy levels.

OBJECTIVES: We developed and validated the Health Literacy Index for the Community (HLIC) to assess the health literacy of the Korean population within the framework of the Korean National Health and Nutrition and Examination Survey. METHODS: The HLIC was developed through (1) defining the conceptual framework and generating the item pool and (2) finalizing the items and identifying the cut-off value. Interviews were conducted to examine items’ face validity, and a cross-sectional survey was performed to analyze the item-response theory and Rasch models to investigate the instrument’s psychometric properties. RESULTS: In this study of 1,041 participants, most had no difficulty understanding health information; however, 67.9% struggled to assess the reliability of health information from the Internet or media. A 4-factor structure was identified through factor analysis, leading to the exclusion of some items. This resulted in 10 items across 4 domains: (1) disease prevention, (2) health promotion, (3) health care, and (4) technology and resources. The HLIC demonstrated good internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s α of 0.87. It also showed high test-retest reliability and correlations with other health literacy instruments. A socio-demographic analysis of the HLIC revealed disparities in health literacy across various age groups, education levels, and income brackets. CONCLUSIONS The HLIC was developed to systematically measure health literacy in Korea’s general population. Its simplicity and conciseness ensure reliability and validity and improve its accessibility, making it particularly suitable for the broader Korean population, including those with lower literacy levels.

OBJECTIVES: We developed and validated the Health Literacy Index for the Community (HLIC) to assess the health literacy of the Korean population within the framework of the Korean National Health and Nutrition and Examination Survey. METHODS: The HLIC was developed through (1) defining the conceptual framework and generating the item pool and (2) finalizing the items and identifying the cut-off value. Interviews were conducted to examine items’ face validity, and a cross-sectional survey was performed to analyze the item-response theory and Rasch models to investigate the instrument’s psychometric properties. RESULTS: In this study of 1,041 participants, most had no difficulty understanding health information; however, 67.9% struggled to assess the reliability of health information from the Internet or media. A 4-factor structure was identified through factor analysis, leading to the exclusion of some items. This resulted in 10 items across 4 domains: (1) disease prevention, (2) health promotion, (3) health care, and (4) technology and resources. The HLIC demonstrated good internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s α of 0.87. It also showed high test-retest reliability and correlations with other health literacy instruments. A socio-demographic analysis of the HLIC revealed disparities in health literacy across various age groups, education levels, and income brackets. CONCLUSIONS The HLIC was developed to systematically measure health literacy in Korea’s general population. Its simplicity and conciseness ensure reliability and validity and improve its accessibility, making it particularly suitable for the broader Korean population, including those with lower literacy levels.

OBJECTIVES: We developed and validated the Health Literacy Index for the Community (HLIC) to assess the health literacy of the Korean population within the framework of the Korean National Health and Nutrition and Examination Survey. METHODS: The HLIC was developed through (1) defining the conceptual framework and generating the item pool and (2) finalizing the items and identifying the cut-off value. Interviews were conducted to examine items’ face validity, and a cross-sectional survey was performed to analyze the item-response theory and Rasch models to investigate the instrument’s psychometric properties. RESULTS: In this study of 1,041 participants, most had no difficulty understanding health information; however, 67.9% struggled to assess the reliability of health information from the Internet or media. A 4-factor structure was identified through factor analysis, leading to the exclusion of some items. This resulted in 10 items across 4 domains: (1) disease prevention, (2) health promotion, (3) health care, and (4) technology and resources. The HLIC demonstrated good internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s α of 0.87. It also showed high test-retest reliability and correlations with other health literacy instruments. A socio-demographic analysis of the HLIC revealed disparities in health literacy across various age groups, education levels, and income brackets. CONCLUSIONS The HLIC was developed to systematically measure health literacy in Korea’s general population. Its simplicity and conciseness ensure reliability and validity and improve its accessibility, making it particularly suitable for the broader Korean population, including those with lower literacy levels.

Background: The purpose of the study was to translate and linguistically validate a Korean language version of the PROMIS (K-PROMIS) for the six profile adult domains: Fatigue, Pain Intensity, Pain Interference, Physical Function, Sleep Disturbance, and Ability to Participate in Social Roles and Activities. Methods: A total of 268 items were translated into Korean according to the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy multilingual translation methodology. Participants first completed approximately 27 to 35 items and were then interviewed to evaluate the conceptual equivalence of the translation to the original English language source.The K-PROMIS items that met the a priori threshold of ≥ 20% of respondents with comprehension difficulties in the cognitive interview. Results: 54 of the 268 items were identified as difficult items to comprehend for at least 20% of respondents in Round 1. The most frequently identified K-PROMIS domain on difficult items to comprehend was the Physical function (24.5%). Most items with linguistic difficulties were Fatigue and Physical function. Cultural difficulties were only included the Physical function and Ability to Participate in Social Roles and Activities domains. 25 of 54 items were slightly revised, and then these revised items were tested with additional six participants in Round 2, and most participants had no problems to understand modified items. Conclusion The six profile adult domains of K-PROMIS have been linguistically validated.Further psychometric validation of the K-PROMIS items will provide additional information of meaningful outcomes for chronic disease and clinical setting.

Background: The purpose of the study was to translate and linguistically validate a Korean language version of the PROMIS (K-PROMIS) for the six profile adult domains: Fatigue, Pain Intensity, Pain Interference, Physical Function, Sleep Disturbance, and Ability to Participate in Social Roles and Activities. Methods: A total of 268 items were translated into Korean according to the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy multilingual translation methodology. Participants first completed approximately 27 to 35 items and were then interviewed to evaluate the conceptual equivalence of the translation to the original English language source.The K-PROMIS items that met the a priori threshold of ≥ 20% of respondents with comprehension difficulties in the cognitive interview. Results: 54 of the 268 items were identified as difficult items to comprehend for at least 20% of respondents in Round 1. The most frequently identified K-PROMIS domain on difficult items to comprehend was the Physical function (24.5%). Most items with linguistic difficulties were Fatigue and Physical function. Cultural difficulties were only included the Physical function and Ability to Participate in Social Roles and Activities domains. 25 of 54 items were slightly revised, and then these revised items were tested with additional six participants in Round 2, and most participants had no problems to understand modified items. Conclusion The six profile adult domains of K-PROMIS have been linguistically validated.Further psychometric validation of the K-PROMIS items will provide additional information of meaningful outcomes for chronic disease and clinical setting.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to validate the Korean version of Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System 29 Profile v2.1 (K-PROMIS-29 V2.1) among cancer survivors. Materials and Methods: Participants were recruited from outpatient clinics of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, from September to October 2018. Participants completed a survey questionnaire that included the K-PROMIS-29 V2.1 and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). Principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Pearson’s correlations were used to evaluate the reliability and validity of the K-PROMIS-29 V2.1. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 54.4 years, the mean time since diagnosis was 1.2 (±2.4) years, and 349 (87.3%) completed the entire questionnaire. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of the seven domains in the K-PROMIS-29 V2.1 ranged from 0.81 to 0.96, indicating satisfactory internal consistency. In the CFA, the goodness-of-fit indices for the K-PROMIS-29 V2.1 were high (comparative fit index, 0.91 and standardized root-mean-squared residual, 0.06). High to moderate correlations were found between comparable subscales of the K-PROMIS-29 V2.1 and subscales of the EORTC QLQ-C30 (r=0.52-0.73). Conclusion The K-PROMIS-29 V2.1 is a reliable and valid measure for assessing the health-related quality of life domains in a cancer population, thus supporting their use in studies and oncology trials.