The HWISE-RCN announces the latest publication, “Development and validation protocol for an instrument to measure household water insecurity across cultures and ecologies: the Household Water InSecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale,” by members Dr. Sera Young, Shalean Collins, Dr. Godfred Boateng, Dr. Torsten Neilands, Zeina Jamaluddine, Joshua Miller, Dr. Alexandra Brewis, Dr. Edward Frongillo, Dr. Wendy Jepson, Dr. Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez, Dr. Roseanne Schuster, Dr. Justin Stoler, Dr. Amber Wutich on behalf of the HWISE Research Coordination Network. This publication is based off the work of anthropologists, geographers, nutritionists, statisticians and epidemiologists, among others, in 28 sites across four continents. Congratulations on a wonderful article! We are excited to see how the scale is implemented worldwide.
Abstract
Introduction A wide range of water-related problems contribute to the global burden of disease. Despite the many plausible consequences for health and well-being, there is no validated tool to measure individual- or household-level water insecurity equivalently across varying cultural and ecological settings. Accordingly, we are developing the Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale to measure household-level water insecurity in multiple contexts.
Methods and analysis After domain specification and item development, items were assessed for both content and face validity. Retained items are being asked in surveys in 28 sites globally in which water-related problems have been reported (eg, shortages, excess water and issues with quality), with a target of at least 250 participants from each site. Scale development will draw on analytic methods from both classical test and item response theories and include item reduction and factor structure identification. Scale evaluation will entail assessments of reliability, and predictive, convergent, and discriminant validity, as well as the assessment of differentiation between known groups.
This is an open access article and can be viewed with the following link:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023558