The Swedish Version of the Electronic Health Literacy Scale: Prospective Psychometric Evaluation Study Including Thresholds Levels

Background To enhance the efficacy of information and communication, health care has increasingly turned to digitalization. Electronic health (eHealth) is an important factor that influences the use and receipt of benefits from Web-based health resources. Consequently, the concept of eHealth literacy has emerged, and in 2006 Norman and Skinner developed an 8-item self-report instrument to measure these skills: the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS). However, the eHEALS has not been tested for reliability and validity in the general Swedish population and no threshold values have been established. Objective The aim of this study was to translate and adapt eHEALS into a Swedish version; evaluate convergent validity and psychometric properties; and determine threshold levels for inadequate, problematic, and sufficient eHealth literacy. Methods Prospective psychometric evaluation study included 323 participants equally distributed between sexes with a mean age of 49 years recruited from 12 different arenas. Results There were some difficulties translating the English concept health resources. This resulted in this concept being translated as health information (ie, Hälsoinformation in Swedish). The eHEALS total score was 29.3 (SD 6.2), Cronbach alpha .94, Spearman-Brown coefficient .96, and response rate 94.6%. All a priori hypotheses were confirmed, supporting convergent validity. The test-retest reliability indicated an almost perfect agreement, .86 (P<.001). An exploratory factor analysis found one component explaining 64% of the total variance. No floor or ceiling effect was noted. Thresholds levels were set at 8 to 20 = inadequate, 21 to 26 = problematic, and 27 to 40 = sufficient, and there were no significant differences in distribution of the three levels between the Swedish version of eHEALS and the HLS-EU-Q16. Conclusions The Swedish version of eHEALS was assessed as being unidimensional with high internal consistency of the instrument, making the reliability adequate. Adapted threshold levels for inadequate, problematic, and sufficient levels of eHealth literacy seem to be relevant. However, there are some linguistic issues relating to the concept of health resources.

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The Swedish version of eHEALS: A Prospective Psychometric Evaluation Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.16316 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Josefin Wångdahl ◽

Maria Jaensson ◽

Karuna Dahlberg ◽

Ulrica Nilsson

Keyword(s):

Convergent Validity ◽

A Priori ◽

Health Resources ◽

Psychometric Evaluation ◽

Evaluation Study ◽

Self Report ◽

Swedish Version ◽

Perfect Agreement ◽

Swedish Population ◽

Ehealth Literacy

BACKGROUND Electronic health is an important factor that influences the use and receipt of benefits from web-based health resources. Consequently, the concept of eHealth literacy has emerged and in 2006 Norman and Skinner developed an 8-item self-report eHealth literacy scale to measure these skills: the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS). However, the eHEALS has not been tested for validity in the general Swedish population. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to translate and adapt the eHEALS into a Swedish version and to evaluate its psychometric properties. METHODS Prospective psychometric evaluation study including 323 participants equally distributed between sex and with a mean age of 49 years. RESULTS There were some difficulties translating the English concept Health resources. This resulted in this concept being translated as Health information, i.e. Hälsoinformation in Swedish. The eHEALS total score was 29.3 (SD 6.2), Cronbach’s alpha 0.94, Spearman-Brown coefficient 0.96 and with a high responsiveness of 94.6%. All a priori hypotheses were confirmed, supporting convergent validity. The test-retest reliability indicated an almost perfect agreement, 0.86 (p< 0.001). An exploratory factor analysis found one component explaining 69% of the total variance. No floor or ceiling effect was noted. CONCLUSIONS The Swedish version of eHEALS was assessed as being unidimensional and the internal consistency of the instrument high, making the reliability adequate. However, there are some linguistic issues relating to the concept of Health resources.

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The Swedish Web Version of the Quality of Recovery Scale Adapted for Use in a Mobile App: Prospective Psychometric Evaluation Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.9061 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Ulrica Nilsson ◽

Karuna Dahlberg ◽

Maria Jaensson

Keyword(s):

Convergent Validity ◽

Psychometric Evaluation ◽

Evaluation Study ◽

Day Surgery ◽

Postoperative Recovery ◽

Mobile App ◽

Swedish Version ◽

Quality Of Recovery ◽

Item Quality

BACKGROUND The 40-item Quality of Recovery (QoR-40) questionnaire is well validated for measuring self-assessed postoperative recovery. The Swedish version of the 40-item Quality of Recovery (QoR-40) has been developed into a Web-based questionnaire, the Swedish Web version of the Quality of Recovery (SwQoR) questionnaire, adapted for use in a mobile app, Recovery Assessment by Phone Points, or RAPP. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to test the validity, reliability, responsiveness, and clinical acceptability and feasibility of SwQoR. METHODS We conducted a prospective psychometric evaluation study including 494 patients aged ≥18 years undergoing day surgery at 4 different day-surgery departments in Sweden. SwQoR was completed daily on postoperative days 1 to 14. RESULTS All a priori hypotheses were confirmed, supporting convergent validity. There was excellent internal consistency (Cronbach alpha range .91-.93), split-half reliability (coefficient range .87-.93), and stability (ri=.99, 95% CI .96-.99; P<.001). Cohen d effect size was 1.00, with a standardized response mean of 1.2 and a percentage change from baseline of 59.1%. An exploratory factor analysis found 5 components explaining 57.8% of the total variance. We noted a floor effect only on postoperative day 14; we found no ceiling effect. CONCLUSIONS SwQoR is valid, has excellent reliability and high responsiveness, and is clinically feasible for the systematic follow-up of patients’ postoperative recovery.

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Web-based health Information Seeking and eHealth Literacy among College students. A Self-report study

Investigación y Educación en Enfermería ◽

10.17533/udea.iee.v38n1e08 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Fatemeh KHademian ◽

Mahsa Roozrokh Arshadi Montazer ◽

Azam Aslani

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Health Information ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Health Resources ◽

Self Report ◽

The Internet ◽

Health Information Seeking ◽

Web Based ◽

Ehealth Literacy ◽

Quality Health

Objective. This study aimed to assess web-based health information seeking and eHealth literacy among Iranian college students. Methods. The study was conducted in five colleges of the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran during 2018. The data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of seven questions on a 4-point Likert-type scale, with scores ranging from 7 to 28. These questions were: ′I know how to use the Internet to answer my questions about health′, ′I think there is enough information about health-related issues on the Internet′, ′I know the vocabulary used in health issues on the Internet′, ′I can tell high-quality health resources from low-quality health resources on the Internet′, ′I know how to use the health information I find on the Internet to help me′, ′I feel confident in using information from the Internet to make health decisions′, and ′Searching for health-related information on the Internet will increase my knowledge in this field′. High eHealth literacy level is defined as above the total mean score and low eHealth literacy level is defined as lower than the total mean score. Results. In all, 386 college students participated in the study. The results showed that the mean score of eHealth literacy was 19.11 out of 28; 205 participants (54.4%) had low eHealth literacy. In addition, the students used the Internet to search for information regarding diseases symptoms (70%), physical illnesses (67.1%), existing treatments (65%), and diagnosis (63.1%). Conclusion. The results showed that participants in this study usually searched for illnesses, symptoms, and treatments after they got sick and paid little attention to other aspects related to integral health.How to cite this article: KHademian F, Roozrokh M, Aslani A. Web-based health Information Seeking and eHealth Literacy among College students. A Self-report study. Invest. Educ. Enferm. 2020. 38(1):e08.

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The Brief Symptom Inventory: an introductory report

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291700048017 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 595-605 ◽

Cited By ~ 3812

Author(s):

Leonard R. Derogatis ◽

Nick Melisaratos

Keyword(s):

Convergent Validity ◽

Psychometric Evaluation ◽

Good Evidence ◽

Brief Symptom Inventory ◽

Self Report ◽

Symptom Scale ◽

Symptom Dimensions ◽

Symptom Inventory ◽

Report Symptom ◽

Validity Studies

SynopsisThis is an introductory report for the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), a brief psychological self-report symptom scale. The BSI was developed from its longer parent instrument, the SCL-90-R, and psychometric evaluation reveals it to be an acceptable short alternative to the complete scale. Both test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities are shown to be very good for the primary symptom dimensions of the BSI, and its correlations with the comparable dimensions of the SCL-90-R are quite high. In terms of validation, high convergence between BSI scales and like dimensions of the MMPI provide good evidence of convergent validity, and factor analytic studies of the internal structure of the scale contribute evidence of construct validity. Several criterion-oriented validity studies have also been completed with this instrument

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Electronic Health Literacy Among Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Computed Tomography Medical Imaging Outpatients: Cluster Analysis (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.13423 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lisa Lynne Hyde ◽

Allison W Boyes ◽

Lisa J Mackenzie ◽

Lucy Leigh ◽

Christopher Oldmeadow ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cluster Analysis ◽

Medical Imaging ◽

Health Information ◽

Odds Ratio ◽

Latent Class ◽

Self Report ◽

Measurement Tool ◽

Cut Points ◽

Ehealth Literacy ◽

Electronic Health

BACKGROUND Variations in an individual’s electronic health (eHealth) literacy may influence the degree to which health consumers can benefit from eHealth. The eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) is a common measure of eHealth literacy. However, the lack of guidelines for the standardized interpretation of eHEALS scores limits its research and clinical utility. Cut points are often arbitrarily applied to the eHEALS item or at the global level, which assumes a dichotomy of high and low eHealth literacy. This approach disregards scale constructs and results in inaccurate and inconsistent conclusions. Cluster analysis is an exploratory technique, which can be used to overcome these issues, by identifying classes of patients reporting similar eHealth literacy without imposing data cut points. OBJECTIVE The aim of this cross-sectional study was to identify classes of patients reporting similar eHealth literacy and assess characteristics associated within each class. METHODS Medical imaging outpatients were recruited consecutively in the waiting room of one major public hospital in New South Wales, Australia. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire assessing their sociodemographic characteristics and eHealth literacy, using the eHEALS. Latent class analysis was used to explore eHealth literacy clusters identified by a distance-based cluster analysis, and to identify characteristics associated with class membership. RESULTS Of the 268 eligible and consenting participants, 256 (95.5%) completed the eHEALS. Consistent with distance-based findings, 4 latent classes were identified, which were labeled as low (21.1%, 54/256), moderate (26.2%, 67/256), high (32.8%, 84/256), and very high (19.9%, 51/256) eHealth literacy. Compared with the low class, participants who preferred to receive a lot of health information reported significantly higher odds of moderate eHealth literacy (odds ratio 16.67, 95% CI 1.67-100.00; P=.02), and those who used the internet at least daily reported significantly higher odds of high eHealth literacy (odds ratio 4.76, 95% CI 1.59-14.29; P=.007). CONCLUSIONS The identification of multiple classes of eHealth literacy, using both distance-based and latent class analyses, highlights the limitations of using the eHEALS global score as a dichotomous measurement tool. The findings suggest that eHealth literacy support needs vary in this population. The identification of low and moderate eHealth literacy classes indicate that the design of eHealth resources should be tailored to patients’ varying levels of eHealth literacy. eHealth literacy improvement interventions are needed, and these should be targeted based on individuals’ internet use frequency and health information amount preferences.

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Psychometric Evaluation of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) for Dutch Adolescents

Journal of Child and Family Studies ◽

10.1007/s10826-020-01803-4 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (11) ◽

pp. 3276-3286

Author(s):

Anne Kennes ◽

Sanne Peeters ◽

Mayke Janssens ◽

Jennifer Reijnders ◽

Johan Lataster ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

School Environment ◽

Convergent Validity ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Short Form ◽

Health Assessment ◽

Psychometric Evaluation ◽

Well Being ◽

Self Report ◽

Internal Reliability

Abstract This study examined the structure, reliability, and convergent validity of the adolescent version of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (Dutch MHC-SF-A), a self-report questionnaire for positive mental health assessment. This questionnaire was completed by 459 Dutch adolescents (178 boys and 281 girls) between the ages of 11 and 18 years at baseline and at a 4-week follow-up. Results revealed the 3-factor structure in emotional, psychological, and social well-being, a high internal reliability and a moderate test–retest reliability. Findings suggest that mental illness and well-being represent two related but distinct continua of mental health. Fostering adolescents’ well-being is important. Promoting positive emotions, creating a supportive and loving parent–adolescent relationship, and a supportive school environment will contribute to this.

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Swedish Version of Mood Spectrum Self-Report Questionnaire: Psychometric Properties of Lifetime and Last-week Version

Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health ◽

10.2174/1745017901612010014 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 14-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Michael Ioannou ◽

Marzia Dellepiane ◽

Antonella Benvenuti ◽

Konstantinos Feloukatzis ◽

Nektaria Skondra ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychometric Properties ◽

Internal Consistency ◽

Rating Scale ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Psychometric Evaluation ◽

Unipolar Depression ◽

Symptom Assessment ◽

Self Report ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Swedish Version

Background:Mood Spectrum Self Report (MOODS-SR) is an instrument that assesses mood spectrum symptomatology including subthreshold manifestations and temperamental features. There are different versions of the MOODS-SR for different time frames of symptom assessment: lifetime (MOODS-LT), last-month and last-week (MOODS-LW) versions.Objective:To evaluate the psychometric properties of the MOODS-LT the MOODS-LW.Methods:The reliability of the MOODS-LT and MOODS-LW was evaluated in terms of internal consistency and partial correlations among domains and subdomains. The known-group validity was tested by comparing out-patients with bipolar disorder (n=27), unipolar depression (n=8) healthy controls (n=68). The convergent and divergent validity of MOODS-LW were evaluated using the Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), the Young-Ziegler Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) in outpatients as well the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in healthy controls.Results:Both MOODS-LT and MOOODS-LW showed high internal consistency with the Kuder-Richardson coefficient ranging from 0.823 to 0.985 as well as consistent correlations for all domains and subdomains. The last-week version correlated significantly with MADRS (r= 0.79) and YMRS (r=0.46) in outpatients and with GHQ-12 (r= 0.50 for depression domain, r= 0.29 for rhythmicity) in healthy controls.Conclusion:The Swedish version of the MOODS-LT showed similar psychometric properties to other translated versions. Regarding MOODS-LW, this first published psychometric evaluation of the scale showed promising psychometric properties including good correlation to established symptom assessment scales. In healthy controls, the depression and rhythmicity domain scores of the last-week version correlated significantly with the occurrence of mild psychological distress.

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The Persian Self-Report Version of the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD-P): A Psychometric Evaluation

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.760531 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Ali Ebrahimi ◽

Mojtaba Elhami Athar ◽

Mona Darvishi ◽

Olivier F. Colins

Keyword(s):

Internal Consistency ◽

Convergent Validity ◽

Factor Model ◽

Psychometric Evaluation ◽

Psychopathic Traits ◽

Self Report ◽

Callous Unemotional ◽

Antisocial Process Screening Device ◽

Confirmatory Factor ◽

Screening Device

The self-report version of the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) is a commonly used tool for assessing psychopathic traits in youth. This is the first study designed to examine the factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent validity of the Persian APSD-SR in a sample of 675 school-attending youth in Iran (46% girls; M age = 16.35). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a modified three-factor model, with items loading on narcissism, callous-unemotional, and impulsivity dimensions, which was invariant across gender. Notwithstanding that the internal consistency of some APSD scores was unsatisfactory, the APSD total and dimension scores showed the expected relations with external correlates (e.g., conduct problems, aggression, and low prosocial behavior), supporting the validity of the interpretation of the APSD scores. The findings showed that the APSD is a useful tool for assessing psychopathic traits in Iranian adolescents and may spark research on adolescent psychopathy in mental health and forensic settings.

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A psychometric evaluation of the Standardized Assessment of Severity of Personality Disorder (SASPD) in non-clinical and clinical German samples

10.31234/osf.io/unqhm ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Katharina Rek ◽

Isabel Thielmann ◽

Miriam Henkel ◽

Mike Crawford ◽

Luigi Piccirilli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Personality Disorder ◽

Internal Consistency ◽

Convergent Validity ◽

Discriminant Validity ◽

Clinical Sample ◽

Psychometric Evaluation ◽

Symptom Distress ◽

Self Report ◽

Standardized Assessment ◽

Clinical Samples

The Standardized Assessment of Severity of Personality Disorder (SASPD) is a nine-item self-report screening instrument and was developed to assess personality disorder (PD) severity according to the initial proposal of ICD-11. Our aim was to investigate the psychometric properties of the German version of the SASPD in non-clinical and clinical samples. A total of 1,991 participants (N = 888 from non-clinical and N = 1,103 from clinical samples) provided ratings on the SASPD as well as other measures of psychopathology and personality. We examined the SASPD regarding its factor structure, internal consistency, and construct validity. A unidimensional structure of the SASPD provided inadequate model fit, whereas a three-factor solution provided good fit in both the non-clinical and clinical samples. Internal consistency of the SASPD total score was acceptable in the clinical and in the non-clinical sample based on this multi-factorial model. In terms of convergent validity, SASPD scores correlated fairly with other measures of PD severity across samples. Discriminant validity with measures of general symptom distress and measures of (normal) personality traits was mixed. In addition, the SASPD scores predicted levels of PD severity above and beyond a measure of symptom distress. The SASPD captures some theoretically expected features of PD severity. However, the multidimensional structure and limited convergent and discriminant validity may hamper future usage of the SASPD as a short screening tool of PD severity according to ICD-11.

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Psychometric validation of Swedish and Arabic versions of two health literacy questionnaires, eHEALS and HLS-EU-Q16, for use in a Swedish context: a study protocol

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029668 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (9) ◽

pp. e029668 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Josefin M Wangdahl ◽

Karuna Dahlberg ◽

Maria Jaensson ◽

Ulrica Nilsson

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

Phase 1 ◽

Psychometric Evaluation ◽

Evaluation Study ◽

Face Validity ◽

Psychometric Validation ◽

Ethical Review ◽

Online Information ◽

Political Issue ◽

Ehealth Literacy

IntroductionEquity in health and access to healthcare regardless of gender, ethnicity or social position is a major political issue worldwide. Regardless of an individual’s knowledge, motivation and competence, individuals are expected to be engaged and take responsibility of their own care. Migrants have been identified as a vulnerable population in healthcare, and an explanation for the inequity in health and in healthcare is limited health literacy. Furthermore, with increasing digitalisation in healthcare, it also puts demand on the individual to have digital or electronic health (eHealth) literacy.The overall aim of this study is to conduct a psychometric evaluation of the Swedish and Arabic versions of HLS-EU-Q16 and eHEALS and to compare Arabic and Swedish speakers’ Health literacy and eHealth literacy levels in Sweden.Methods and analysisThis is a prospective, psychometric evaluation study with the intent of including 300 Arabic-speaking and 300 Swedish-speaking participants. Questionnaires: The Health Literacy Survey European Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16) includes 16 items measuring perceived personal skills of finding, understanding, judging and applying health information to maintain and improve their health. The eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS) is an 8-item scale measuring health literacy skills in relation to online information and applications.This study will be conducted in four phases. Phase 1: Translation of HLS-EU-Q16 and eHEALS from English to Swedish and Arabic versions following the principles of translation of questionnaires. Phase 2: Content validity testing of eHEALS, including face validity and interpretability, conducted with five Arabic and five Swedish-speaking participants. Phase 3: Psychometric testing including construct validity, reliability, feasibility and floor ceiling effects. Phase 4: Distribution and comparison of eHealth and HLS-EU-Q16 analysed with χ2and Fisher’s exact test as appropriate. To assess associations between HLS-EU-Q16, eHEALS and demographic variables, binary logistic regression analyses will be performed.Ethics and disseminationThe project has been approved by the regional ethical review board in Stockholm, Sweden (2019/5:1) and will follow the principles outlined in the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. Results from this study will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences and social media.

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