Background: Food insecurity is a dynamic, global issue requiring our constant attention today, and practical assessment instruments are needed to detect food insecurity in various populations and countries. A screening tool for food insecurity was developed and tested its psychometric properties.
Material and method: The Food Insecurity Screening Instrument (FISI) was developed based on literature review and qualitative data from a sample of 30 female who were family food providers in crowded urban communities in Bangkok.
Results: Content validity was determined by five experts, resulting in a good content validity index. It was tested with another 350 food providers, resulting in high reliability Item analysis revealed good internal consistency of items to total scale, except for two items which were deleted. Construct validity was determined using exploratoiy factor analysis, and revealed four factors, consisting of 33 items, food quantity, food quality, food safety, and anxiety about food These factors together explained 74.9% of total variance of the new tool.
Conclusion: This new tool provides a valid and reliable means of screening for food insecurity in families and communities. Policy makers in Thailand have supported the usefulness of the instrument which has already been used across the country for the National Survey, and after the 2011 Thai floods.