Development and Validation of a Chinese Parental Health Literacy Questionnaire for Caregivers of Children from 0 to 3 Years Old

Abstract

Background Given the limited information on parental health literacy measurements, the study aimed to develop and validate the Chinese Parental Health Literacy Questionnaire for caregivers of children under three years old. Methods We conducted a validity and reliability study through a cross-sectional survey and test-retest analysis respectively between March and April 2017. 807 caregivers of children under three years old were recruited, among which 101 caregivers completed the test-retest assessment with two weeks interval. The reliability was determined by internal consistency, spilt-half reliability and test-retest reliability. The construct validity was assessed by confirmatory factor analysis. Results The 39-question Chinese Parental Health Literacy Questionnaire was shown with high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=0.89), spilt-half reliability (Spearman-Brown coefficient=0.92) and test-retest reliability (Pearson correlation coefficient=0.82). The confirmatory factor analysis showed that the construct of the questionnaire fitted well with the hypothetical model. The participants’ test scores of the Chinese Parental Health Literacy Questionnaire in a cross-sectional survey were positively associated with caregivers being mothers, more educated, of children with Shanghai Hukou, having only one child in the family, having higher family income. Conclusion The Chinese Parental Health Literacy Questionnaire demonstrated good reliability and validity, which could potentially be used as an effective evaluation instrument to assess parental health literacy.