Evaluating the Iranian Women's Environmental Health Literacy

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran.

2 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

3 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Environmental health literacy (EHL) pertains to the ability to comprehend and utilize environmental data in order to make informed choices regarding one's health. The aim of this study is to evaluate EHL, encompassing Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors (KAP) regarding general environmental health (GEH) and Specific Environmental Media (air, food, and water), as well as their socio-demographic determinants.

 Materials and Methods: A descriptive study was conducted to examine the EHL of 678 women who visited comprehensive health centers in Zanjan city in 2023. Data was collected through multi-stage random sampling using the validated EHL Scale, and analyzed with SPSS 23 software at a significance level below 0.05.

Results: The study found that while most women have good knowledge of GEH (80.7%), water (60.3%), and food (90.9%), only 26.7% are knowledgeable about air HL. Additionally, 33.9% had a positive attitude towards GEH, while only 13.7% felt positively about air quality. Many participants showed limited knowledge (37.5%) and a negative attitude (43.8%) towards air quality. Significant correlations exist between age, marital status, economic status, training participation, and women's EHL.

Conclusion: The level of women's GEH and specific environmental media (air, food, and water) was high. However, their level of literacy in air media was lower than the other areas. To enhance environmental health literacy, health authorities should capitalize on women's potential and introduce specific programs to boost their air literacy.

Keywords

Acknowledgments: The authors thank all participants for making this study possible, as well as the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Technology and the SDH Research Center of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences for their support in conducting this project.


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


Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.


Consent for publication: Not applicable.


Ethics approval and consent to participate: The Ethics Committee of the Research and Technology Vice-Chancellor of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences (IR.ZUMS.REC.1401.021) approved this study as part of a master’s thesis in the field of Health Education and Health Promotion. In addition, the study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Prior to data collection, the researchers provided a comprehensive explanation of the study's objectives to the participants, ensuring them that their participation was entirely voluntary. The privacy and confidentiality of the data were prioritized, and informed consent was obtained from all study participants.


Funding: This study was supported by grants from the Zanjan University of Medical Science, Iran.


Authors’ contribution: Conceptualization: Khadijeh Hajimiri, Mehran Mohammadian Fazli, and Mohammad Masoud Vakili.Data curation: Mahin Golestani.Formal analysis: Khadijeh Hajimiri. Investigation: Mahin Golestani. Methodology: Khadijeh Hajimiri. Project administration: Khadijeh Hajimiri, Mehran Mohammadian Fazli,and Mohammad Masoud Vakili. Supervision: Khadijeh Hajimiri. Validation: Khadijeh Hajimiri. Writing–original draft: Mahin Golestani. Writing–review & editing: Mahin Golestani, Khadijeh Hajimiri, Mehran Mohammadian Fazli,and Mohammad Masoud Vakili.

 

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

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Available Online from 10 December 2024

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