Table 7. Final household water insecurity scale questions validated for use among postpartum women in Nyanza, Kenya.
For each item, the questions followed the same format “In the last 4 weeks, how frequently…” | |
---|---|
1 | Did you worry you would not have enough water for all of your household needs? |
2 | Did you feel angry or frustrated that you would not have enough water for all of your household needs? |
3 | Did you worry about the safety of the person getting water for your household? |
4 | Has the time spent fetching water prevented anyone in your household from earning money? |
5 | Has the time spent fetching water prevented you or anyone in your household from caring for your children? |
6 | Has anyone in your household asked to borrow water from other people? |
7 | Has there not been enough water in the household to wash clothes? |
8 | Have you missed meetings in your community (church, funerals, community meetings, etc.) because there wasn't enough water? |
9 | Have you missed meetings in your community (church, funerals, community meetings, etc.) because you lacked water to take a bath and you felt too dirty to go? |
10 | Have you or anyone in your household had to change what was being cooked because there wasn’t enough water? |
11 | Did you or anyone in your household had to go without washing hands after defecating, changing diapers, or other dirty activities because you didn't have enough water? |
12 | Did you not have enough water to wash your children's face and hands? |
13 | Did you or anyone in your household have to go without washing their body because there wasn’t enough water? |
14 | Did you or anyone in your household want to treat your water, but couldn't? By treat I mean boiling, using chemicals to treat, or other ways you make your water safe to use or drink. |
15 | Did you or anyone in your household actually had to drink water that you thought was unsafe? |
16 | Did you have problems with water that caused arguments/trouble with neighbors or others in the community? |
17 | Has there not been as much water to drink, as you would like for you or members of your household? |
18 | Have you or anyone in your household not had enough water to take medications? |
19 | Have you or anyone in your household gone to sleep thirsty? |
20 | Have you had no water whatsoever in your household? |
Notes: For each question, participants were asked to respond to one of the following options Never (0), Rarely (1–2 times in prior 4 weeks), Sometimes (3–10 times in prior 4 weeks), Often (11–20 times in prior 4 weeks), Always (above 20 times in prior 4 weeks). Questions were asked from the least to the most severe manifestations of water insecurity.