Transcultural adaptation and validation of Malay-translated food insecurity experience scale (FIES) / Nurfatiha Zulkarnain Helmi

Food insecurity is a known health-related problem worldwide. Recently, the Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) releases the latest measurement scale to gauge food insecurity experiences, namely the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), which was designed to have cross-cultural equivalence and validity. This measurement tool was developed to assess food insecurity among population worldwide. Since research in Malaysia also shown a positive prevalence of food insecurity experience and known indicators are proven affected these population in urban and rural area, thus this study aimed to validate FIES to be implemented in Malaysia. The objective of this study is to assess validity and reliability of Malay version of FIES in measuring food insecurity among sub-urban population. This cross-sectional study was conducted among the community in Felda Bukit Cherakah, Puncak Alam Selangor (n=124), aged 15 years and above. Content validity was assessed by an expert panel, and the questionnaire was then tested among 20 targeted subjects for clarity. Internal consistency was evaluated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and construct validity was assessed through exploratory factor analysis. Factor analysis on the FIES questions showed that there were two underlying structures; Factor 1 (food uncertainty) and Factor 2 (quantity). Meanwhile the Cronbach alpha coefficient indicates that FIES had acceptable internal consistency (0.759). As conclusion, FIES is a valid and reliable tool to measure food insecurity situation among the Malaysian population.