Adapting the Health Knowledge Inventory for Use with High School Seniors

Knowledge alone is not enough to ensure that the individual will act in a healthy manner or choose positive health behaviors. However, knowledge may enable one to engage in sound health practices. Health education must respond to the changes in American culture by developing approaches that achieve maximum communication and learning. The purpose of this thesis is to assess the suitability of the Health Knowledge Inventory – High School Version (HKI-HS) for testing with high school seniors. A field test was performed to assess whether the HKI-HS is an appropriate measurement instrument of personal health knowledge among high school seniors. During the spring of 1990 the HKI-HS was administered to 418 students at four high schools in Western Kentucky. Estimates of construct validity, internal consistency reliability, and test-retest reliability were obtained. Within the context of this study and its limitations, the HKI-HS was demonstrated to be a valid and reliable test for the high school population. Potential uses of the HKI-HS include measuring knowledge gained through high school personal health courses