Table 1.
Reliability, sensitivity and specificity of tools for measuring household food security status( 18 )
| Measurement tool | No. of questions | Reliability (Cronbach’s α) | Sensitivity/specificity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-item measures | |||
| USDA Food Sufficiency question( 18 ) | 1 | NR | Sensitivity: 32 % Specificity: 90 % |
| EFNEP Evaluating/Reporting System question( 18 ) | 1 | NR | NA |
| Concern About Food Security question( 18 ) | 1 | NR | NA |
| Single-item NHS question( 15 ) | 1 | NR | Sensitivity: 57 %* Specificity: 96 %* |
| Multi-item measures | |||
| CCHIP Hunger Index( 18 ) | 8 | 0·80–0·89 | NA |
| Radimer/Cornell FSS( 18 ) | 13 | 0·84–0·86 | Sensitivity: 89 % Specificity: 63 % |
| USDA HFSSM( 18 ) | 18 | 0·74–0·93 | NA |
USDA, US Department of Agriculture; EFNEP, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program; NHS, (Australian) National Health Survey; CCHIP, Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project; FSS, Food Security Scale; HFSSM, Household Food Security Survey Module; NR, not relevant. NA, not available.
Values for test–restest reliability not available for any tools.
*
USDA HFSSM is the comparison tool.