Abstract
Health literacy has been evaluated in several countries by tools developed for local language and culture. This study aimed to adapt and to validate the Health Literacy Test (TLS) for the Brazilian Portuguese language based on the Test of functional health literacy in adults (TOFHLA). The TLS, translated and adapted to the Brazilian scenario based on the Test of functional health literacy in adults, was administered to 302 users of a clinic of a University in Santa Catarina from September to October 2013. Cronbach's Alpha coefficient, Spearman's correlation and Analysis of Variance were used to assess the internal consistency, the correlation between the parts of the test and association between sociodemographic variables and the score of the Test, respectively. The average score of the test was 72,2, and 54.6% of participants had adequate health literacy, 19.2% had marginal health literacy and 26.2% had inadequate health literacy. The average score of the test was inversely related to the age of the participants and directly related to the level of education. There was no significant difference in the other sociodemographic characteristics. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.953. The coefficients for the numerical and reading passages were 0.808 and 0.951, respectively. All the sections correlated positively and significantly with the Test, and also with each other. The validation of this test provides a new instrument to determine the literacy level in Brazilian adults.
Highlights
Health literacy has been evaluated in several countries by tools developed for local language and culture
This study aimed to adapt and to validate the Health Literacy Test (TLS) for the Brazilian Portuguese language based on the Test of functional health literacy in adults (TOFHLA)
The Teste de Letramento em Saúde (TLS), translated and adapted to the Brazilian scenario based on the Test of functional health literacy in adults, was administered to 302 users of a clinic of a University in Santa Catarina from September to October 2013
Summary
Health literacy has been evaluated in several countries by tools developed for local language and culture. This study aimed to adapt and to validate the Health Literacy Test (TLS) for the Brazilian Portuguese language based on the Test of functional health literacy in adults (TOFHLA). Method: The TLS, translated and adapted to the Brazilian scenario based on the Test of functional health literacy in adults, was administered to 302 users of a clinic of a University in Santa Catarina from September to October 2013. According to the Functional Literacy Indicator, 27% of Brazilians between 15 and 64 years of age are considered to be functionally illiterate, i.e., while knowing how to read and write, they do not have the reading, writing and calculation skills necessary for their personal and professional development[3].When these individuals use health services, they are prone to additional difficulties due to the type of reading required in this environment[4]. We use the term health literacy (HL), since literacy is used in the educational environment[3]
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