Reliability and validity of a short form household food security scale in a Caribbean community
BMC public health
; 4(22): [1-9], Jun. 2004. tab
Artigo
em Inglês
| MedCarib
| ID: med-17608
Biblioteca responsável:
TT5
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
We evaluated the reliability and validity of the short form household food security scale in a different setting from the one in which it was developed.METHODS:
The scale was interview administered to 531 subjects from 286 households in north central Trinidad in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. We evaluated the six items by fitting item response theory models to estimate item thresholds, estimating agreement among respondents in the same households and estimating the slope index of income-related inequality (SII) after adjusting for age, sex and ethnicity.RESULTS:
Item-score correlations ranged from 0.52 to 0.79 and Cronbach's alpha was 0.87. Item responses gave within-household correlation coefficients ranging from 0.70 to 0.78. Estimated item thresholds (standard errors) from the Rasch model ranged from -2.027 (0.063) for the 'balanced meal' item to 2.251 (0.116) for the 'hungry' item. The 'balanced meal' item had the lowest threshold in each ethnic group even though there was evidence of differential functioning for this item by ethnicity. Relative thresholds of other items were generally consistent with US data. Estimation of the SII, comparing those at the bottom with those at the top of the income scale, gave relative odds for an affirmative response of 3.77 (95% confidence interval 1.40 to 10.2) for the lowest severity item, and 20.8 (2.67 to 162.5) for highest severity item. Food insecurity was associated with reduced consumption of green vegetables after additionally adjusting for income and education (0.52, 0.28 to 0.96).CONCLUSIONS:
The household food security scale gives reliable and valid responses in this setting. Differing relative item thresholds compared with US data do not require alteration to the cut-points for classification of 'food insecurity without hunger' or 'food insecurity with hunger'. The data provide further evidence that re-evaluation of the 'balanced meal' item is required.
Texto completo:
Disponível
Coleções:
Bases de dados internacionais
Contexto em Saúde:
Agenda de Saúde Sustentável para as Américas
Problema de saúde:
Objetivo 11 Desigualdades e iniquidades na saúde
Base de dados:
MedCarib
Assunto principal:
Características da Família
/
Região do Caribe
/
População Negra
/
Comportamento Alimentar
/
Privação de Alimentos
/
Abastecimento de Alimentos
Tipo de estudo:
Estudo prognóstico
/
Pesquisa qualitativa
Aspecto:
Determinantes sociais da saúde
/
Equidade e iniquidade
Limite:
Adulto
/
Humanos
País/Região como assunto:
Caribe Inglês
/
Trinidad e Tobago
Idioma:
Inglês
Revista:
BMC public health
Ano de publicação:
2004
Tipo de documento:
Artigo
Instituição/País de afiliação:
King's College/United Kingdom
/
Ministry of Health/Trinidad and Tobago