Rasch Analysis of US Household Food Security Survey Module in Latino Migrant Farmworkers

Abstract

This secondary analysis evaluated the validation of the short version of the US Department of Agriculture's Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) in a Latino migrant population. The Rasch model assessed the HFSSM's structure, item severity levels, and fitness of the sample population. Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis explored the invariance of HFSSM response patterns between less/more acculturated households. Item infit scores were within an adequate range (0.7–1.3). Item severity scores and unidimensionality structure supported the HFSSM's theoretical framework. Analysis showed statistically nonsignificant DIF contrast between acculturation levels. The adapted HFSSM performed in agreement with the theoretical framework of food insecurity as a managed process in this Latino migrant population.

Keywords:

• Food security
• Rasch model
• acculturation
• Latinos
• migrants

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute for Nursing Research (Grant No. P30NRO10676), Self-Management (SMART) Center, and the Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Clinic Clinical Translational Science Collaboration (Grant No. UL1 RR024989), which provided funding support and originated from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the NIH and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official view of NCRR or NIH. The authors acknowledge Hugo Melgar-Quinonez, MD, PhD. The authors thank Kimberly Garcia, DNP, WHNP, MSN, RN; Emily Horacek, BSN, RN; Brittany Krotzer, BS, RN; Laura Dirkse, MPH; Ryan M. Kofron, MSSA, CNM; and various Ohio and Michigan growers and their migrant mother employees.