Measuring Menstrual Health Literacy: Development and validation of the Menstrual Health Literacy Scale

Menstrual health literacy (MHL) is associated with better menstrual health management and greater understanding of how menstruation can impact general health and wellbeing. This article outlines the development and psychometric validation of the 22-item Menstrual Health Literacy Scale (MHLS-22), the first psychometric scale to measure MHL, and proposes a novel conceptual definition of MHL. Development of the MHLS-22 involved initial item generation, content validity analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and convergent and discriminant validity testing. These psychometric analyses provide support for the validity and reliability of the MHLS-22. The MHLS-22 is the first psychometric scale to measure MHL and is suitable for use in the evaluation and development of interventions targeting MHL.