OBJECTIVES : PAM-13 is a measure of the knowledge, skill, and confidence for managing one’s own health. We developed the Hungarian version of the PAM-13 instrument and tested its psychometric properties.

METHODS : In linguistic adaptation and psychometric testing, we followed the WHO and COSMIN guidelines, respectively. From a commercial online panel, we recruited a sample representative of the 40+-year-old general population in terms of gender, age, education, region and type of residence using quotas (n=900). After 10 days, the survey was randomly re-administered in 100 subjects. Responses on the 4-point Likert items were transformed to a 0-100 PAM score. We assessed floor- and ceiling effect, test-retest reliability via intraclass-correlation (ICC), factor structure via confirmatory factor-analysis (CFA), internal consistency (Cronbach-alpha), convergent- and discriminant validity via analysing correlation with the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) age, education and income; and known-groups validity assuming that respondents without major lifestyle-related risks or above-median probability of preventive behaviours (participation in cancer screening, cardio-metabolic monitoring and vaccinations according to national guidelines) or health-information-seeking have higher PAM scores.

RESULTS : Altogether 779 (86.6%) individuals were eligible for the analysis. Mean age was 60.4 (SD=10.6) years, 54.0% were female, 66.5% reported to have chronic disease. Mean PAM score was 59.8 (SD=11.5). No floor- or ceiling effect was detected. Test-retest reliability was assessed in 75 eligible individuals (ICC=0.63). CFA suggested single-factor structure with adequate sample (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin statistic=0.84) and good fit (RMSEA=0.049). Internal consistency was good (Cronbach-alpha=0.77). PAM scores were positively correlated with eHEALS (r=0.41, p<0.001) but not with age (r=0.02, p=0.49), education (polychoric rho=0.00, p=0.99) or income (r=-0.03, p=0.42). PAM scores were higher in individuals without major lifestyle-related risks (p<0.001) and frequent health-information seekers (p=0.001) but were not associated with preventive behaviours (p=0.21).

CONCLUSIONS : The Hungarian language version of PAM-13 instrument demonstrated good structural and content validity and moderate test-retest reliability.