extended · article · 2024

Psychometric validation of the French version of two scales measuring general (HLS19-Q12) and navigational (HLS19-NAV) health literacy using the Rasch model

Rajae Touzani; Alexandra Rouquette; Émilien Schultz; Cécile Allaire; Patrizia Carrieri; Julien Mancini; Jean-Benoît Hardouin; Everett V. Smith Jr.

To examine the psychometrics properties of the French version of two scales measuring general (HLS19-Q12) and navigational (HLS19-NAV) health literacy (HL) using validation methods based on modern psychometric test theories: a Rasch model analysis. The data on representative samples of the French adult population came from the Health Literacy Survey (N = 2 003), conducted in France in two waves (2020 and 2021), and from the third wave of SLAVACO study (N = 2 022), conducted in December 2021. A Rasch analysis was performed using a partial credit model with marginal maximum likelihood estimation adapted to polytomous data. Category probability curves were used to examine whether participants found it consistently difficult to distinguish between response options. Differential item functioning (DIF) was also examined for each item in the two scales as a function of age, gender, and economic...