Hospital Practices and Research

Abstract Background: Health Literacy (HL) is closely related to health status. Measuring public HL levels helps to warn about health status and manage health problems through timely interventions. The items of relevant evaluation tools are complex and numerous in Iran, and there is no recognized HL brief scale for the whole population.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to translate the Health Literacy Scale Short-Form (12-item) (HLS-SF12) and test the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the HLS-SF12 in the Iranian population.
Methods: This research was descriptive with a psychometrics aim. The research population included 289 male and female students from four faculties of Islamic Azad University of Dezful, who were selected using a random sampling method. The Persian version of HLS-SF12 was used to collect data. The construct validity (exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis) and internal reliability of the instrument were evaluated. The research data was analyzed using SPSS-26 and AMOS-26 software.
Results: The Cronbach's alpha reliability of the HLS-SF12 and subscales were in the range of 0.72 to 0.88. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the existence of three factors in HLS-SF12. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the original three-factor model of the questionnaire, and fit indices indicated a good model fit index for Persian HLS-SF12 (GFI=0.961, CFI=0.974, IFI=0.966, TLI=0.971, and RMSEA=0.073).
Conclusion: The Persian version of HLS-SF12 has good reliability and validity, and can be used as a tool to evaluate the HL of Iranian students. In addition, due to the strength of the structure and having appropriate psychometric specifications, HLS-SF12 had the capability to be used by researchers.