Development and validation protocol for an instrument to measure household water insecurity across cultures and ecologies: the Household Water InSecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale
Torsten B Neilands,
Sera L Young,
Shalean M Collins,
Godfred O Boateng,
Zeina Jamaluddine,
Joshua D Miller,
Alexandra A Brewis,
Edward A Frongillo,
Wendy E Jepson,
Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez,
Roseanne C Schuster,
Justin B Stoler,
Amber Wutich,
Ellis Adams,
Farooq Ahmed,
Mallika Alexander,
Mobolanle Balogun,
Michael Boivin,
Genny Carrillo,
Kelly Chapman,
Stroma Cole,
Hassan Eini-zinab,
Jorge Escobar-vargas,
Matthew Freeman,
Hala Ghattas,
Ashley Hagaman,
Nicola Hawley,
Kenneth Maes,
Jyoti Mathad,
Patrick Mbullo Owour,
Javier Moran,
Nasrin Omidvar,
Amber Pearson,
Asher Rosinger,
Luisa Samayoa-figueroa,
Ernesto Sánchez-rodriguez,
Jader Santos,
Marriane V Santoso,
Sonali Srivastava,
Chad Staddon,
Andrea Sullivan,
Yihenew Tesfaye,
Nathaly Triviño-león,
Alex Trowell,
Desire Tshala-katumbay,
Raymond Tutu,
Felipe Uribe-salas,
Elizabeth Wood,
Cassandra Workman
Affiliations
Torsten B Neilands
Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, Division of Prevention Sciences, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
Sera L Young
Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
Shalean M Collins
Department of International Health and Sustainable Development, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Godfred O Boateng
2 Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
Zeina Jamaluddine
4 Center for Research on Population and Health, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Joshua D Miller
2 Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
Alexandra A Brewis
5 School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Edward A Frongillo
6 Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Wendy E Jepson
7 Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez
8 Institute for Global Food Security, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, USA
Roseanne C Schuster
5 School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Justin B Stoler
9 Department of Geography, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
Amber Wutich
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Ellis Adams
Farooq Ahmed
Mallika Alexander
Mobolanle Balogun
4 Department of Community Health & Primary Care, University of Lagos, Mushin, Nigeria
Michael Boivin
Genny Carrillo
Kelly Chapman
Stroma Cole
Hassan Eini-zinab
Jorge Escobar-vargas
Matthew Freeman
Hala Ghattas
Center for Research on Population and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut Faculty of Health Sciences, Beirut, Lebanon
Ashley Hagaman
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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.Ethics and dissemination Study activities received necessary ethical approvals from institutional review bodies relevant to each site. We anticipate that the final HWISE Scale will be completed by late 2018 and made available through open-access publication. Associated findings will be disseminated to public health professionals, scientists, practitioners and policymakers through peer-reviewed journals, scientific presentations and meetings with various stakeholders. Measures to quantify household food insecurity have transformed policy, research and humanitarian aid efforts globally, and we expect that an analogous measure for household water insecurity will be similarly impactful.
