Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Validity of a four-item household water insecurity experiences scale for assessing water issues related to health and well-being

  • HWISE Research Coordination Network
  • Northwestern University
  • University of South Carolina
  • University of Texas at Arlington
  • American University of Beirut
  • University of California at San Francisco
  • Arizona State University
  • University of Amsterdam
  • Michigan State University
  • University of Miami
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • Yale University
  • University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  • University of the West of England
  • Oregon Health and Science University
  • Anode Governance Lab
  • University of Notre Dame
  • Hospital Agustin O’Horan
  • Texas A&M University
  • African Population and Health Research Center
  • Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences
  • McGill University
  • University of Washington
  • Universidad Autonoma de Coahuila
  • Oxfam
  • Universidad Javeriana
  • Cornell University
  • University of Florida
  • Oregon State University
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Emory University
  • Universidad Autónoma Del Beni José Ballivián
  • University of Lagos
  • Delaware State University
  • International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

51 Scopus citations

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 3 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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)391-394
Number of pages4
JournalAmerican Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume104
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 6 2021

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Validity of a four-item household water insecurity experiences scale for assessing water issues related to health and well-being'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this