Rasch analyses of the standardized Spanish translation of the U.S. household food security survey module

Abstract

In this article we examine whether the implementation of a standardized Spanish-language Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) affects comparisons of food insecurity measures between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White households. We find that some of the food insecurity items are measuring different levels of the severity of (latent) food insecurity between these groups, but that these differences are small. While differences in the measured severity of food insecurity between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White households were small, implementation of the standardized Spanish-HFSSM improved the reliability and performance of the food insecurity items. Concerns about the bias associated with differences in the measured severity of food insecurity between these groups were assessed and found to be negligible, suggesting the Spanish- and English-language HFSSMs produce comparable measures of food insecurity.