Conference article

Validation of a Health Literacy test in a Danish population - Results from a pilot study

Lisa Korsbakke Emtekær Hæsum
Department of Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, Denmark

Lars Ehlers
Centre of Improvement in Health Care, Faculty of Social Sciences and Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, Denmark

Ole K. Hejlesen
Department of Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, Denmark/Department of Computer Science, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway

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Published in: Scandinavian Conference on Health Informatics; August 22; 2014; Grimstad; Norway

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 102:1, p. 1-7

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Published: 2014-08-20

ISBN: 978-91-7519-241-3

ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)

Abstract

The authors of this paper translated and adapted the original American full-length Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA) into a Danish version. As a part of a pilot study the Danish TOFHLA was validated for use in a Danish population. The purpose of the pilot study was to test and validate the Danish version of TOFHLA on 42 consecutively selected patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); and to explore tendencies and associations between health literacy and demographic characteristics; educational attainment; and mean response time. The 42 COPD patients were recruited from two different settings (the municipality of Aalborg and the municipality of Hjørring). Based on a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.943; a reliable Danish TOFHLA has been successfully developed. The results of the pilot study showed no statistical significant differences between COPD patients recruited from the municipality of Aalborg and those recruited from the municipality of Hjørring. More research is needed to explore the level of health literacy among Danish COPD patients.

Keywords

Denmark; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; TOFHLA; Validity; Health literacy

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