Reliability and validity of an individually focused food insecurity access scale for assessing inadequate access to food among pregnant Ugandan women of mixed HIV status

Barnabas K. Natamba*, Hillary Kilama, Angela Arbach, Jane Achan, Jeffrey K. Griffiths, Sera L. Young

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective To determine the reliability, validity and correlates of measures of food insecurity (FI) obtained using an individually focused food insecurity access scale (IFIAS) among pregnant women of mixed HIV status in northern Uganda. Design A mixed-methods study involving cognitive interviews nested within a cross-sectional survey. Setting The antenatal care clinic of Gulu Regional Referral Hospital. Subjects Survey respondents included 403 pregnant women, recruited in a ratio of one HIV-infected to two HIV-uninfected respondents, twenty-six (nine of them HIV-infected) of whom were asked to participate in the cognitive interviews. Results Over 80 % of cognitive interview participants reported understanding the respective meanings of six of the nine items (i.e. items 4 to 9) on the IFIAS. Two main factors emerged from rotated exploratory factor analysis of the IFIAS: mild to moderate FI (IFIAS items 1-6) and severe FI (items 7-9). Together, they explained 90·4 % of the FI measure's variance. The full IFIAS and the two subscales had moderate to high internal consistency (Cronbach's α ranged from 0.75 to 0.87). Dose-response associations between IFIAS scores, and measures of socio-economic status and women's diet quality, were observed. Multivariate linear regression revealed significant positive associations between IFIAS scores and HIV infection, maternal age, number of children and a history of internal displacement. IFIAS scores were negatively associated with women's diet diversity score, asset index and being employed. Conclusions The IFIAS showed strong reliability, validity and contextual relevance among women attending antenatal care in northern Uganda.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2895-2905
Number of pages11
JournalPublic Health Nutrition
Volume18
Issue number16
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 30 2015

Keywords

  • Africa
  • Food access
  • Food security
  • HIV
  • Pregnancy
  • Uganda

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Nutrition and Dietetics
  • Medicine (miscellaneous)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Reliability and validity of an individually focused food insecurity access scale for assessing inadequate access to food among pregnant Ugandan women of mixed HIV status'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this