Translation and Assessment of Structural Validity and Internal Consistency of the Polish Health Literacy...

Background and Objectives: Assessing health literacy requires valid measurement tools that capture its multidimensional nature. The nine-scale Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) is globally used for this purpose. This study reports on the initial psychometric assessment of the Polish version of the HLQ. Materials and Methods: The HLQ was translated using the developers' Translation Integrity Procedure and administered to 918 health professions students in a cross-sectional survey. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and reliability tests were conducted. Results: One-factor CFAs generally supported the intended structure of the individual HLQ scales, although some variation in model fit was observed across scales. A full, restrictive nine-factor CFA supported the original nine-factor model, with good fit indices: χ²_WLSMV (866 df) = 1752.08, p < 0.0001, CFI = 0.973, TLI = 0.970, SRMR = 0.045, RMSEA = 0.035. Factor loadings were generally acceptable (≥0.50), with only two items below the threshold. Internal consistency of scales was good to acceptable in all but one domain marginally lower than desired: "Appraisal of health information" (Cronbach's α = 0.69, composite reliability 0.68). Conclusions: The findings provide initial evidence supporting structural validity and internal consistency of the Polish HLQ in this sample. Further testing in other Polish populations is recommended.