臺大公衛學院為加強宣導本院教師之學術成果，進而提升本院國際能見度，由陳端容老師撰寫下列文章投稿至ASPPH Friday Letter.

該文目前已刊登於  ASPPH Friday Letter, March 8, 2024

報導篇名：Health Literacy Scale for Adolescents in Taiwan

著作名稱：Measuring adolescent health literacy in Taiwan: validation of the health literacy assessment scale for adolescents

作者：An-Kuo Chou️ (本院健管所行社組博士班周安國同學), Chun-Hua Liao, Duan-Rung Chen✉️ (本所專任教師陳端容教授)

期刊：BMC Public Health

這篇論文《台灣青少年健康識能評估量表的驗證》旨在驗證青少年健康識能評估量表（HAS-A）中文版的信效度。研究對象包括2312名台灣五、六年級學生。研究結果確認量表具有良好信效度。青少年健康識能包括區辨健康資訊和功能性健康識能，溝通性健康識能。家庭社經地位和收入較低的青少年，在溝通性健康識能（代表與醫師溝通的能力）表現更不理想，顯示一定程度的健康不平等。相較其他國家，台灣青少年在溝通性健康識能方面表現較差，但區辨健康資訊的健康識能則表現較佳。本研究為青少年健康識能的評估提供了一個可靠的工具。

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.