Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30521552›Full record

ArticlePloS one2018

Validity and measurement invariance across sex, age, and education level of the French short versions of the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire.

Alexandra Rouquette, Théotime Nadot, Pierre Labitrie, Stephan Van den Broucke, Julien Mancini, Laurent Rigal, Virginie Ringa

Abstract readValidation Study
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
61citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

61 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  14. [Measuring health literacy: methods and tools for assessing general health literacy in adults].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2025
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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Alexandra RouquetteUniversité Paris-Saclay, Univ. Paris-Sud, UVSQ, CESP, INSERM, Villejuif, France.
Théotime NadotUniversité Paris-Saclay, Univ. Paris-Sud, UVSQ, CESP, INSERM, Villejuif, France.
Pierre LabitrieUniversité Paris-Saclay, Univ. Paris-Sud, General Practice Department, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France.
Stephan Van den BrouckeUniversité Catholique de Louvain, Louvain, Belgium.
Julien ManciniAix-Marseille Univ, INSERM, IRD, UMR1252, SESSTIM, "Cancers, Biomedicine & Society" group, Marseille, France.ORCID 0000-0001-9500-8598
Laurent RigalUniversité Paris-Saclay, Univ. Paris-Sud, UVSQ, CESP, INSERM, Villejuif, France.ORCID 0000-0001-6807-2738
Virginie RingaUniversité Paris-Saclay, Univ. Paris-Sud, UVSQ, CESP, INSERM, Villejuif, France.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundShort versions of the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU) questionnaire are increasingly used to measure and compare health literacy (HL) in populations worldwide. As no validated versions of these questionnaires have thus far appeared in French, this study aimed to study the psychometric properties of the French translation of the 16- and 6-item short versions (HLS-EU-Q16 and HLS-EU-Q6), including their measurement invariance across sex, age, and education level.

methodsA consensual French version of the HLS-EU-Q16 and HLS-EU-Q6 was developed by following the current recommendations for transcultural questionnaire adaptation. It was then completed by 317 patients recruited in waiting rooms of general practitioners in the Paris area (France). Structural validity was studied with the Rasch model for the HLS-EU-Q16 and confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) for the HLS-EU-Q6. Concurrent and convergent validity, respectively, were assessed by scores on the Functional Communicative Critical Health Literacy (FCCHL) questionnaire and the physicians' evaluations of their patient's HL.

resultsThe 16 items of the HLS-EU-Q16 were Rasch homogenous but meaningful differential item functioning (DIF) was found across sex, age, and/or education level for eight items. The CFA model fit for the HLS-EU-Q6 was poor. The overall scores for both HLS-EU short versions correlated poorly with the FCCHL scores. Similarly, HL levels defined using either short-version score did not agree with physicians' HL assessments.

conclusionThe French version of the HLS-EU-Q16 has acceptable psychometric properties, despite meaningful DIF for age, sex and education level and a poor discriminative power among subjects with average to high HL level. We recommend its use to measure HL in populations with sufficient reading skills to discriminate between subjects with low to average HL. Also, sensitivity analyses should be performed to evaluate the potential measurement bias due to DIF. Our results did not demonstrate the validity of the HLS-EU-Q6.

Indexed as

Surveys and QuestionnairesAdultAgedAge FactorsEducational StatusFactor Analysis, StatisticalFemaleFranceHealth LiteracyHumansMaleMiddle AgedPsychometricsReproducibility of ResultsSex FactorsTranslations

Identifiers

PMID30521552
PMCPMC6283623

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.