Measuring COVID-19 Related Health Literacy in Healthcare Professionals—Psychometric Evaluation of the HL-COV-HP Instrument

Kati Hiltrop, Nina Hiebel, Franziska Geiser, Milena Kriegsmann-Rabe, Nikoloz Gambashidze, Eva Morawa, Yesim Erim, Kerstin Weidner, Christian Albus and Nicole Ernstmann
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Kati Hiltrop: Center for Health Communication and Health Services Research (CHSR), Department for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Nina Hiebel: Department for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Franziska Geiser: Department for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Milena Kriegsmann-Rabe: Department for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Nikoloz Gambashidze: Institute for Patient Safety, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Eva Morawa: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany
Yesim Erim: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany
Kerstin Weidner: Department for Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Christian Albus: Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
Nicole Ernstmann: Center for Health Communication and Health Services Research (CHSR), Department for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-10

Abstract: Background: Thus far, there is no instrument available measuring COVID-19 related health literacy of healthcare professionals. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop an instrument assessing COVID-19 related health literacy in healthcare professionals (HL-COV-HP) and evaluate its psychometric properties. Methods: An exploratory factor analysis, a confirmatory factor analysis, and descriptive analyses were conducted using data from n = 965 healthcare professionals. Health literacy related to COVID-19 was measured with 12 items, which were adapted from the validated HLS-EU-Q16 instrument measuring general health literacy. Results: Exploratory factor analysis demonstrated that 12 items loaded on one component. After removing one item due to its high standardized residual covariance, the confirmatory factor analysis of a one-factor model with 11 items showed satisfactory model fit (? 2 = 199.340, df = 41, ? 2 /df = 4.862, p < 0.001, RMSEA = 0.063, CFI = 0.963 and TLI = 0.951). The HL-COV-HP instrument showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha 0.87) and acceptable construct reliability. Conclusions: The HL-COV-HP is a reliable, valid, and feasible instrument to assess the COVID-19 related health literacy in healthcare professionals. It can be used in hospitals or other healt hcare settings to assess the motivation and ability of healthcare professionals to find, understand, evaluate, and use COVID-19 information.

Keywords: health literacy; healthcare professionals; COVID-19; exploratory factor analysis; confirmatory factor analysis; SARS-CoV2-pandemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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