How to measure the general Environmental Health Literacy
Lopez Lumbi S, Masciangelo L, Liebig-Gonglach M, Duda A, Rodenkirchen J, Hoyer A, Hornberg C, McCall T (2024)
European Journal of Public Health 34(Supplement_3).
**Background**
Many environmental factors, both natural or man-made, are associated with health risks. To make informed decisions about these potential risks, certain skills and competencies are necessary. The concept of Environmental Health Literacy (EHL) which integrates aspects of Science Literacy, Health Literacy and Environmental Literacy encompasse these competencies. To assess to what extent individuals or groups are environmental health literate, a general Environmental Health Literacy Scale is necessary. To the best of our knowledge, there is no validated instrument to measure general EHL.
**Methods**
Two phases of scale construction were conducted: 1) Item development with deductive methods which includes a literature review and assessment of existing scales resulting in two suitable studies for scale construction. Included items were translated to German language. 2) Scale development with pre-testing of items followed by applying potential items (n = 38) to a sample of of 454 students. Internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha), Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Criterion (KMO), Bartlett’s test, Velicer’s minimum average partial (MAP) test for number of underlying factors and Exploratory Factor Analysis using Principal Component Analysis with oblimin rotation and stepwise item reduction were assessed.
**Results**
Velicer’s MAP identified 3 factors, Cronbach’s alpha = .92, KMO = .92, Bartlett’s Test revealed significant correlation. Seven items were removed from the scale due to low factor loadings (< .3). Factor 1 (access) explains 18% of variance, factor 2 (knowledge) 12% and factor 3 (reflection) 10%, respectively. Overall, the model explains 40% of variance. Model fit represented by RMSEA index = .05.
**Conclusions**
A new general EHL scale has been developed and proven to be suitable for a students sample. This marks the first step towards a validated tool for multiple purposes. Cultural adaptation as well as multiple language validations are in process.
**Key messages**
• The process towards a general Environmental Health Scale has started.
• The development of a validated EHL scale will improve understanding on whether the general population or subgroups are able to gain, understand and act upon information regarding environmental health.
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