title: The health competence measurement tool (HCMT): developing a new scale to measure self-rated "health competence".
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop and test a tool for measuring health competence.
  
  
  METHODS
  In order to measure this attribute, we used a sequential exploratory mixed methods design in rural and urban communities in Cameroon. In the qualitative phase, 67 clients constituted 10 focus groups to elicit themes related to health competence. In the quantitative phase, self-rated items were tested on 300 participants and on a random selection of 25 participants 2 weeks later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The internal consistency for the subscales derived varied from 0.61-0.81. Older (F[45, 339.1]=1.2; p=0.031) and more educated (F[3, 22.6]=2.1; p=0.004) people were more likely to score higher on the scale. Interviewers also contributed to the variance (F[5, 37.6]=3.6; p<0.001). Test-retest reliability was 0.66. The final scale with 15 items is made up of three subscales: knowledge of disease, how to stay in good health and health information.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We present a new self-rated scale for health competence with good psychometric properties. It circumvents the need to be literate, but requires well trained interviewers. We recommend that it be tested in other settings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This tool should be used to appraise individual and community health education needs with minor context specific modifications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; Biostatistics Unit, Father Sean O'Sullivan Research Centre, St Joseph's Healthcare - Hamilton, ON, Canada; Centre for the Development of Best Practices in Health, Yaoundé Central Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon. Electronic address: mbuagblc@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mbuagbaw
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Development of Best Practices in Health, Yaoundé Central Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon. Electronic address: bonono2003@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Renee Cecile
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Bonono Momnougui
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; Biostatistics Unit, Father Sean O'Sullivan Research Centre, St Joseph's Healthcare - Hamilton, ON, Canada; Departments of Paediatrics and Anaesthesia, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; Centre for Evaluation of Medicines, St Joseph's Healthcare - Hamilton, ON, Canada; Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, ON, Canada. Electronic address: thabanl@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Lehana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thabane
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Development of Best Practices in Health, Yaoundé Central Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon. Electronic address: pc.ongolo@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ongolo-Zogo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002163:Cameroon; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012424:Rural Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: Cameroon; Health competence; Literacy; Measurement; Scale