Validity and reliability of the heart failure-specific health literacy scale in Turkish

Inadequate health literacy is common among adults with HF. The disease management process in HF closely depends on health literacy. No questionnaire is used to assess health literacy among Turkish patients with heart failure. This study aimed to determine the validity and reliability of the Turkish form of the 'Heart Failure-Specific Health Literacy Scale'. The research is a methodological study design. The study was conducted at the cardiology clinic between May and July 2021, located in the eastern part of Türkiye. The study sample consisted of 121 patients with HF. Data were collected using the Personal Information Form and the Heart Failure-Specific Health Literacy Scale. The patients' mean age was 62.88 ± 12.55 and 66.9% were men. Based on the factor analysis, three factors with eigenvalue above 1 have been identified. These model has been determined as x² = 80.209, sd = 49 and p = 0.003. The fit indices were as follows: x²/SD = 1.637; RMSEA = 0.073, GFI = 0.90, CFI = 0.94, IFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.92 and NFI = 0.87. The scale has a total Cronbach's alpha of 0.66. With test-retest analysis, it was determined that it had a good, positive and significant correlation in terms of both the scale and its sub-dimensions. The Turkish form of the form is a valid and reliable tool.