ORCID iD
Edward Frongillo: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8265-9815
Document Type
Article
Subject Area(s)
Data Collection; Family Characteristics; Humans; Sensitivity and Specificity; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Water Insecurity; Water Supply
Abstract
We sought to determine whether a shortened version of the 12-item Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale, which measures water insecurity equivalently in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), is valid for broad use. Using data from 9,261 households in 25 LMICs, subsets of candidate items were evaluated on their predictive accuracy, criterion validity, and sensitivity-specificity. A subset with items assessing "worry," "changing plans," "limited drinking water," and "inability to wash hands" because of problems with water (range: 0-12) were highly correlated with full HWISE Scale scores (correlation coefficient: 0.949-0.980) and introduced minimal additional error (root mean square error: 2.13-2.68). Criterion validity was demonstrated, and a cut point of ≥ 4 correctly classified more than 91% of households as water secure or insecure. The brief HWISE-4 can be used in LMICs to inform decisions about how to most effectively target resources and evaluate public health interventions.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
Published in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Volume 104, Issue 1, 2021, pages 391-394.
© 2021 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
APA Citation
Young, S., Miller, J., Frongillo, E., Boateng, G., Jamaluddine, Z., & Neilands, T. (2021). Validity of a Four-Item Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scale for Assessing Water Issues Related to Health and Well-Being. The American Journal Of Tropical Medicine And Hygiene, 104(1), 391-394. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.20-0417
Rights
© 2021 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.