Health literacy and Its relationship with general health of women referring to health care centers

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Dept. of Health Education and Health Promotion, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences , Mashhad, Iran

2 Student research committee, Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

3 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran

Abstract

Research background: Health literacy is an essential element of a woman’s ability to understand, process, and act on health-related information and spans health promotion and disease prevention activities. The aim of this study was to determine the status of health literacy, general health and the relationship between them in women referring to health centers.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 100 women aged 18-65 years old referred to health centers. Samples were selected randomly from among those who had the criteria for entering the study. In this study, questionnaires of Health Literacy for Iranian Adults (HELIA) and general health (GHQ-28) were used.

Results: In this study, the mean (standard deviation) of the health literacy and public health scores were 68.42 (17.29) and 27.16 (11.74) respectively. Only 21.3% of people had adequate levels of health literacy. Also, based on the results, only 41.5% of the participants were healthy in terms of general health variables. According to Pearson correlation results, health literacy was significantly correlated with the social function disorder variable and did not show a significant correlation with other general health constructs.

Conclusion: Based on the results obtained in this study, most people in this study have an inappropriate health literacy level and, on the other hand, the general health status of most of them is undesirable. According to the important role that women have in family and community, it is necessary to pay more attention to the health status of this group in the community and to design and implement appropriate training programs to increase their level of health literacy.

Keywords

References

1.    Thirlaway K, Upton D. The Psychology of Lifestyle: promoting healthy behaviour: Routledge; 2009.
2.    Organization WH. Women and health: today's evidence tomorrow's agenda: World Health Organization; 2009.
3.    Griva K, Mooppil N, Seet P, Krishnan DSP, James H, Newman SP. The NKF-NUS hemodialysis trial protocol-a randomized controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of a self management intervention for hemodialysis patients. BMC nephrology. 2011;12(1):4.
4.    Sørensen K, Van den Broucke S, Fullam J, Doyle G, Pelikan J, Slonska Z, et al. Health literacy and public health: a systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC public health. 2012;12(1):80.
5.    Saatchi M, Panahi M, Ashraf Mozafari A, Sahebkar M, Azarpakan A, Baigi V, et al. Health Literacy and Its Associated Factors: A Population-Based Study, Hormuz Island. Iranian Journal of Epidemiology. 2017;13(2):136-44.
6.    Saranjit S, Lennard L. Health literacy: being able to make the most of health: National Consumer Council; 2004.
7.    Donelle L, Hall J, Benbow S. A case study of the health literacy of a criminalized woman. International Journal of Health Promotion and Education. 2015;53(4):192-203.
8.    Bahadori M, Najari F, Alimohammadzadeh KJN-UM. The Relationship between Health Literacy and General Health Level of Hemodialysis Patients: A Case Study in Iran. 2018;10(3).
9.    Corrarino JE. Health literacy and women's health: challenges and opportunities. Journal of midwifery & women's health. 2013;58(3):257-64.
10.    Zareban I, Izadirad H. Evaluation of health literacy, health status and health services utilization in women in Baluchistan region of Iran. Journal of health literacy. 2016;1(2):71-82.
11.    Dadipoor S, Ramezankhani A, Aghamolaei T, Rakhshani F, Safari-Moradabadi AJHS. Evaluation of Health Literacy in the Iranian Population. 2018;7(3):e62212.
12.    Jovic-Vranes A, Bjegovic-Mikanovic VJPe, counseling. Which women patients have better health literacy in Serbia? 2012;89(1):209-12.
13.    Montazeri A, Tavousi M, Rakhshani F, Azin SA, Jahangiri K, Ebadi M, et al. Health Literacy for Iranian Adults (HELIA): development and psychometric properties. Payesh. 2014;13:589-99.
14.    Zareban I, Izadirad H, Araban M. Psychometric evaluation of health literacy for adults (Helia) in Urban area of balochistan. Payesh. 2016;15(6):669-76.
15.    Safari Moradabadi A, Aghamolaei T, Ramezankhani A, Dadipoor SJSJoSoPH, Research IoPH. The Health Literacy of Pregnant Women in Bandar Abbas, Iran. 2017.
16.    Rak ECJRCB. Employment outcomes in persons with diabetes: The role of health literacy and diabetes management self-efficacy. 2014;57(3):159-69.
17.    gholami m, emkani m, dehghan a, daneshmandi h, hadizadeh h. Survey of general health status and the factors affecting in it among industry staffs in Kerman %J Journal Of Neyshabur University Of Medical Sciences. 2014;1(1):32-5.
18.    Zarei F, Mohammadi M, Aboozade Gatabi k, Ghanbari Moghaddam A. General health and its related factors among elderly in sabzevar 2016 %J Journal of Gerontology. 2017;2(2):26-33.
19.    Dashti Z. Survey on general health status of female students during their puberty period and its relevant factors in Qom in 2012. Quarterly Journal of Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences. 2015;22(2).
20.    Seyedoshohadaee M, Kaghanizade M, Nezami M, Hamedani B, Barasteh SJIjoD, Metabolism. The Relationship Between Health Literacy And General Health In Patients With Type 2 Diabetes. 2016;15(5):312-9.
21.    Berkman ND, Sheridan SL, Donahue KE, Halpern DJ, Crotty KJAoim. Low health literacy and health outcomes: an updated systematic review. 2011;155(2):97-107.
22.    Li R, Yuan L, Guo X-H, Lou Q-Q, Zhao F, Shen L, et al. The current status of foot self-care knowledge, behaviours, and analysis of influencing factors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in China. 2014;1(3):266-71.
23.    Ghasemi E, Aliha JM, Bastani F, Samiei N, Haghani HJK. General health status in women with coronary artery disease. 2013;14(4).


Journal of Health Literacy
Volume 3, Issue 3
December 2018
Pages 191-198

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics