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

HWISE Research Coordination Network

doi:10.4269/AJTMH.20-0417

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

HWISE Research Coordination Network

Anthropology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

36 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 language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	391-394
Number of pages	4
Journal	American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume	104
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.4269/AJTMH.20-0417
State	Published - Jan 6 2021

Funding

Financial support: This project was funded with the Competitive Research Grants to Develop Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions (IMMANA). IMMANA is funded with UK Aid from the UK government. This project was also supported by the Buffett Institute for Global Studies and the Center for Water Research at Northwestern University; Arizona State University\u2019s Center for Global Health at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change and Decision Center for a Desert City (National Science Foundation SES-1462086); the Office of the Vice Provost for Research of the University of Miami; and the NIH grant NIEHS/FIC R01ES019841 for the Kahemba Study, DRC. We also acknowledge the National Science Foundation\u2019s HWISE Research Coordination Network (BCS-1759972) for support of the collaboration. S. L. Y. was supported by the NIH (NIMH R21 MH108444; NIMH K01 MH098902). W. E. J. was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-1560962). CS was supported by the Lloyd\u2019s Register Foundation.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Parasitology
Infectious Diseases
Virology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.4269/AJTMH.20-0417

Cite this

@article{50ea1587c359436caf665fb9e01d2966,

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

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.",

author = "{HWISE Research Coordination Network} and Young, {Sera L.} and Miller, {Joshua D.} and Frongillo, {Edward A.} and Boateng, {Godfred O.} and Zeina Jamaluddine and Neilands, {Torsten B.} and Alexandra Brewis and Alex Trowell and Pearson, {Amber L.} and Amber Wutich and Andrea Sullivan and Rosinger, {Asher Y.} and Ashley Hagaman and Cassandra Workman and Chad Staddon and Desire Tshala-Katumbay and Divya Krishnakumar and Ellis Adams and S{\'a}nchez-Rodriguez, {Ernesto C.} and Genny Carrillo and Gershim Asiki and Hala Ghattas and Hassan Eini-Zinab and Hugo Melgar-Qui{\~n}onez and Ahmed, {Jam Farooq} and Javier Moran-Martinez and Jaynie Vonk and Jonathan Maupin and Jorge Escobar-Vargas and Justin Stoler and Jyoti Mathad and Kelly Chapman and Kenneth Maes and Luisa Samayoa-Figueroa and Mahdieh Sheikhi and Mallika Alexander and Santoso, {Marianne V.} and Freeman, {Matthew C.} and Boivin, {Michael J.} and Morales, {Milton Marin} and Mobolanle Balogun and Monet Ghorbani and Nasrin Omidvar and Nathaly Trivi{\~n}o and Nicola Hawley and Owuor, {Patrick Mbullo} and Raymond Tutu and Schuster, {Roseanne C.} and Sabrina Rasheed and Collins, {Shalean M.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene",

year = "2021",

month = jan,

day = "6",

doi = "10.4269/AJTMH.20-0417",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "104",

pages = "391--394",

journal = "American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene",

issn = "0002-9637",

publisher = "American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Validity of a four-item household water insecurity experiences scale for assessing water issues related to health and well-being

AU - HWISE Research Coordination Network

AU - Young, Sera L.

AU - Miller, Joshua D.

AU - Frongillo, Edward A.

AU - Boateng, Godfred O.

AU - Jamaluddine, Zeina

AU - Neilands, Torsten B.

AU - Brewis, Alexandra

AU - Trowell, Alex

AU - Pearson, Amber L.

AU - Wutich, Amber

AU - Sullivan, Andrea

AU - Rosinger, Asher Y.

AU - Hagaman, Ashley

AU - Workman, Cassandra

AU - Staddon, Chad

AU - Tshala-Katumbay, Desire

AU - Krishnakumar, Divya

AU - Adams, Ellis

AU - Sánchez-Rodriguez, Ernesto C.

AU - Carrillo, Genny

AU - Asiki, Gershim

AU - Ghattas, Hala

AU - Eini-Zinab, Hassan

AU - Melgar-Quiñonez, Hugo

AU - Ahmed, Jam Farooq

AU - Moran-Martinez, Javier

AU - Vonk, Jaynie

AU - Maupin, Jonathan

AU - Escobar-Vargas, Jorge

AU - Stoler, Justin

AU - Mathad, Jyoti

AU - Chapman, Kelly

AU - Maes, Kenneth

AU - Samayoa-Figueroa, Luisa

AU - Sheikhi, Mahdieh

AU - Alexander, Mallika

AU - Santoso, Marianne V.

AU - Freeman, Matthew C.

AU - Boivin, Michael J.

AU - Morales, Milton Marin

AU - Balogun, Mobolanle

AU - Ghorbani, Monet

AU - Omidvar, Nasrin

AU - Triviño, Nathaly

AU - Hawley, Nicola

AU - Owuor, Patrick Mbullo

AU - Tutu, Raymond

AU - Schuster, Roseanne C.

AU - Rasheed, Sabrina

AU - Collins, Shalean M.

PY - 2021/1/6

Y1 - 2021/1/6

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100125858&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85100125858&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.4269/AJTMH.20-0417

DO - 10.4269/AJTMH.20-0417

M3 - Article

C2 - 33124535

AN - SCOPUS:85100125858

SN - 0002-9637

VL - 104

SP - 391

EP - 394

JO - American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

JF - American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

IS - 1

ER -

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

Abstract

Funding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this