Validity and Reliability Analysis of the Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scale: the Case of Argentina

Objective. Evaluate the validity and reliability of the Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scale (HWISE) as a tool to assess the experiences of households and the Argentine population regarding insecurity in access to water. Material and methods. The scale was administered as part of the Argentine Social Debt Survey (EDSA), on a probabilistic sample of 5,799 households. Results. The HWISE scale proved to be reliable globally and in each of its items (Cronbach's Alpha of 0.95 at a total level and greater than 0.94 in each of the items), and criterion validity in terms of correlation with a broad set of indicators of social deprivations, sanitary infrastructure, food insecurity, and psychological health. Finally, the scale showed internal consistency, with a total Omega coefficient value of 0.96, suggesting that all scale indicators refer to the same concept of deprivation in water access. Conclusions. The HWISE scale applied to the case of Argentina is deemed appropriate for estimating household water insecurity.