Development and validation of the reproductive health literacy questionnaire for Chinese unmarried youth

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to develop and validate the reproductive health literacy questionnaire for Chinese unmarried youth aged 15–24. METHODS: We conducted a validity and reliability study of the questionnaire through a cross-sectional survey and test–retest analysis in four districts in Shanghai between April and June 2017. A total of 1587 participants completed a self-administered questionnaire anonymously on-site and the trained investigators conducted quality check afterwards. Sixty participants among them completed the test–retest assessment with 2 weeks interval. The reliability was determined by internal consistency, spilt-half reliability and test–retest reliability. The construct validity was assessed by confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: The 58-question reproductive health literacy questionnaire for Chinese unmarried youth demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.919), spilt-half reliability (Guttman splitting coefficient = 0.846) and test–retest reliability (correlation coefficient = 0.720). The confirmatory factor analysis showed that the construct of the questionnaire fitted well with the hypothetical model. The reproductive health literacy scores in unmarried girls aged 15–24 were higher than boys (P < 0.05) and college students who lived in rural areas when they were middle and high school obtained lower score than those living in cities and suburbs (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The reproductive health literacy questionnaire for Chinese unmarried youth demonstrated good reliability and validity, which could potentially be used as an effective evaluation instrument to assess reproductive health literacy among Chinese young people.