Table 2.

Correctly Answered HL6 Items and IRT Analyses (n=306)^*ǂ

Items	Correctly answered*	Factor loadings
The chance of having a side effect from a medication is 5%. If 1000 people take the medicine, about how many will have a side effect?	234 (76.5)	0.71
Anita weighs 250 pounds. She loses 10% of her body weight. How much does she weigh now?	270 (88.2)	0.60
A pulse is measured in beats per minute. If you count 40 beats in 30 s, how many beats is that per minute?	250 (81.7)	0.84
The flu vaccine reduces the risk of flu for 60% of a population. Among 1000 people, how many people have a reduced risk?	232 (75.8)	0.81
A blood pressure reading under 120/80 mmHg is considered normal. Which of these values is normal?	207 (67.6)	0.79
If you jog for 20 min 4 days a week, how much time in total do you spend jogging in a week?	285 (93.1)	0.66
You eat 2100 mg of sodium daily. Your doctor recommends reducing your daily intake by a third. How much sodium should you eat?	163 (53.2)	0.81
Half a cup of yogurt has 155 calories. If you eat 1 cup of yogurt, how many calories will you eat?	281 (91.8)	0.80
You want to consume 2500 calories a day. If you had a 300-calorie breakfast and a 1000-calorie lunch, how many calories should you consume for dinner?	288 (94.1)	0.83
Take 1–2 pills every 6 h for pain. Do not exceed 3000mg a day. Imagine each pill is 600mg. What is the maximum number of pills you can take daily?	256 (83.7)	0.78
This vaccine will protect against all three influenza strains that are expected to circulate this year.	266 (87.2)	0.76

*Values are frequencies and percentages, unless otherwise noted

^ǂBolded items are used in the final HL6 measure