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BMC Primary Care
Published in: BMC Primary Care 1/2014

Open Access 01-12-2014 | Research article

Development of the Health Literacy of Caregivers Scale - Cancer (HLCS-C): item generation and content validity testing

Authors: Eva YN Yuen, Tess Knight, Sarity Dodson, Lina Ricciardelli, Susan Burney, Patricia M Livingston

Published in: BMC Primary Care | Issue 1/2014

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Abstract

Background

Health literacy refers to an individual’s ability to engage with health information and services. Cancer caregivers play a vital role in the care of people with cancer, and their capacity to find, understand, appraise and use health information and services influences how effectively they are able to undertake this role. The aim of this study was to develop an instrument to measure health literacy of cancer caregivers.

Method

Content areas for the new instrument were identified from a conceptual model of cancer caregiver health literacy. Item content was guided by statements provided by key stakeholders during consultation activities and selected to be representative across the range of cancer caregiver experiences. Content validity of items was assessed through expert review (n = 7) and cognitive interviews with caregivers (n = 16).

Results

An initial pool of 82 items was generated across 10 domains. Two categories of response options were developed for these items: agreement with statements, and difficulty undertaking presented tasks. Expert review revealed that the majority of items were relevant and clear (Content Validity Index > 0.78). Cognitive interviews with caregivers suggested that all except three items were well understood.

Conclusion

A resultant 88 item questionnaire was developed to assess cancer caregiver health literacy. Further work is required to assess the construct validity and reliability of the new measure, and to remove poorly performing and redundant items, which will result in a shorter, final measure. The new measure has the potential to inform the development and evaluation of interventions and the improvement of health service delivery to cancer caregivers.
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Metadata
Title
Development of the Health Literacy of Caregivers Scale - Cancer (HLCS-C): item generation and content validity testing
Authors
Eva YN Yuen
Tess Knight
Sarity Dodson
Lina Ricciardelli
Susan Burney
Patricia M Livingston
Publication date
01-12-2014
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Primary Care / Issue 1/2014
Electronic ISSN: 2731-4553
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-014-0202-9

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