Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Thai-brief health literacy screening tool

10.30207/AHLA.202312.0050

Wiphawadee Potisopha；Amparnpan Teeranoot

health literacy ； questionnaires ； Thai ； translation ； WHO guideline

The Proceeding of the 9th AHLA International Health Literacy Conference: Health Literacy and Social Resilience

2023（2023 / 12 / 01）

52 - 52

英文

Background: Several health literacy screening tools have been developed, but they typically consist of numerous items. The four-item Brief Health Literacy Screening Tool (BRIEF) is one of the most efficient short screening tools, especially in emergency settings or in older adults. However, this questionnaire is not available in Thai yet. Objectives: This study aimed to translate the BRIEF into Thai, following a WHO guideline. Method: The BRIEF was independently translated into Thai by two experts. A bilingual expert panel evaluated, compared, and reconciled the translated versions. Using cognitive interviewing and debriefing, the translated BRIEF was administered to ten Thai adults and older adults to assess the clarity, readability, and comprehension of the translation. Then, the Thai BRIEF was translated back to English by two other independent translators, and the conceptual and cultural equivalence of the back-translated versions was evaluated with the original version. The pre-final Thai BRIEF was piloted with 18 participants living in a community in Khon Kaen, Thailand. Results: In the cognitive interviewing, participants reported that this questionnaire was well comprehended; nevertheless, a few clarifications were suggested to include in the items for older adults. Each question of this questionnaire was revised until satisfaction was reached. In the pilot study, 14 participants were older adults, and nine were female. All participants were able to complete the questionnaire in two minutes. Overall, the internal consistency of the BRIEF-Thai in this pilot was good (Cronbach's alpha =0.86). Conclusion: The BRIEF has been successfully translated into Thai and is found to be easily understandable and time-saving, which would be helpful to rapidly screen health literacy levels for Thai adults and older adults. The next step required is to evaluate the psychometric validation of the Thai BRIEF in larger populations.