Background: This study aimed to validate the Chinese version of the Health Literacy Assessment Scale for Adolescents (HAS-A) and conduct a comparative analysis of adolescent health literacy between Taiwan and other countries.
Methods: The Chinese version of the HAS-A was completed by 2,312 adolescents in the fifth and sixth grades of a primary school. Psychometric properties were examined using consistent internal reliability and confirmatory factor analysis. These assessments were compared with the results from different regions to explore health literacy inequality.
Results: Construct validity was good, and internal consistency was acceptable. The scale, particularly regarding communication health literacy, was associated with parents' socioeconomic status, and family income had a more significant impact on children's health literacy than community income. Health literacy disparities appear in different countries, with Taiwan exhibiting the lowest level of communication health literacy.
Conclusion: The results indicate that the HAS-A is a valuable tool for assessing the health literacy of 10-11-year-old adolescents and can uncover health literacy inequality among different regions.
Keywords: Adolescent; Health literacy; Health literacy inequality; Psychometric properties.
© 2023. The Author(s).