Construct Validation of the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) in Shahrekord Cohort Study, Iran

Background: Health literacy promotion is considered to be an important goal in the healthcare strategic planning of every country. The present study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the health literacy questionnaire (HLQ) in the participants of Shahrekord cohort study, Iran.  Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 respondents who were selected via systematic, random sampling from the participants of Shahrekord cohort study. The content and construct validity of HLQ were determined, and the internal consistency of the questionnaire was evaluated using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 21.  Results: The internal consistency and test-retest reliability (ICC) of the factors were higher than 0.7. The construct validity of HLQ was investigated using exploratory factor analysis, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test (0.89), and Bartlett’s test (6908.425) (P ≤ 0.001) with VARIMAX rotation. Conclusion: According to the results, HLQ is a reliable and valid scale for the investigation of health literacy in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran. Since health literacy instruments should be revised regularly, further studies are recommended in order to evaluate health literacy using the HLQ to identify its possible deficiencies.