A Study on the Relationship between Quality of Life and Health Literacy among Students

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Family Health and Population Growth Research Center, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor of Reproductive Health, Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Islamic Azad University, Larestan Branch, Larestan, Iran.

3 Assistant Professor of Reproductive Health, Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Quality of life reflects the health of individuals, physically and mentally. Health literacy is one of the factors that can be related to quality of life. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between quality of life and health literacy among students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Iran. 

Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 357 university students in 2020-2021. Data were collected using the standardized Health Literacy for Iranian Adults (HELIA) and the SF-36 scale. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 22. Descriptive statistics and the Pearson correlation coefficient were used for data analysis. 

Results: The mean score of total QOL in university students was 70.88 ±15.73; among the eight dimensions of SF-36, the highest and the lowest scores were seen in physical functioning with 87.24 ±16.42, and role limitations due to emotional problems with 57.23 ±40.55. There was a positive significant relationship between the total mean score of HELIA and the general health dimension of SF-36. There was a positive significant relationship between reading, understanding, and appraisal dimension of HELIA with a mean score of general health dimension of SF-36. There was a positive significant relationship between understanding, and appraisal dimension of HELIA with mean score of mental health dimension of SF-36. There was a positive significant relationship between the understanding dimension of HELIA with mean score of physical health component score, and total mean score of SF-36. Also, there was a positive significant relationship between appraisal dimension of HELIA and mean score of physical health component score, mental health component score, vitality and total mean score of SF-36.
 
Conclusions: The study shows an association between health literacy and quality of life in medical university students. However, this association is not strong. 

Keywords

Acknowledgements: The authors wish to express their special thanks to all participants in the study. 


Availability of data and materials: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the present study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.


Conflict of interest: There is no conflict of interest in this study.


Consent for publication: Not applicable


Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the ethics committee of Birjand University of Medical Sciences (IR.BUMS.REC.1400.005). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration.


Funding: This study was funded by Birjand University of Medical Sciences with grant number(No.5670).


Author contributions: The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follows: study conception and design: Ghiasi A; data collection: Ghiasi A; analysis and interpretation of results: Haseli A, Bagheri L; draft manuscript preparation: Ghiasi A, Bagheri L. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

 

Open Access Policy: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Journal of Health Literacy
Volume 9, Issue 3 - Serial Number 35
September 2024
Pages 106-113

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