The Turkish Validity and Reliability of the Coronavirus- Related Health Literacy Scale on Health Science Students

Objective: Health literacy is one's ability to access, comprehend, appraise, and apply health- related information. Health literacy has become an important topic since the COVID-19 pandemic. This methodological study aimed to adapt the Coronavirus-Related Health Literacy Scale (HLS-COVID-Q22) to Turkish.Methods: The sample consisted of 539 students of the faculty of health sciences of a university in Turkey. The study was conducted between December 2020 and May 2021. The content validity ratio was calculated for content validity. The construct and concurrent validity, internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, and ceiling and floor effects were also determined. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed for construct validity.Results: The fit indices indicated an adequate fit (X-2/df: 4.97<5, Comparative Fit Index: 0.996). The composite reliability (>0.70) and Cronbach's alpha values (>0.90) were above acceptable limits. Most students had "adequate health literacy" (71.8%). A quarter of the students had "problematic health literacy" (24.5%). The remaining students had "inadequate health literacy" (3.7%). Students with lower levels of health literacy were more likely to have confusion about coronavirus-related information (p<0.001).Conclusions: The results of the study show that the Health Literacy Scale Related to COVID-19 -Turkish Version (HLS-COVID-TR), consisting of 22 items, has sufficient reliability, internal and external construct validity. It has been determined that it is a valid and reliable scale for measuring health science students' COVID-19 related health literacy levels. Nearly three quarters of the students have sufficient health literacy level.