Health Literacy among People Living with HIV in the Active Cohort of the Day Hospital at Yalgado OUEDRAOGO University Hospital, Burkina Faso, 2024

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Training and Research Unit in Health Sciences (UFR/SDS) – Department of Public Health, Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

2 Institute for Health Sciences Research (IRSS), Department of Biomedical and Public Health, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

3 Centre MURAZ, Ministry of Health, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

4 Training and Research Unit in Health Sciences (UFR/SDS) – Section medicine, Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Abstract

Background and Objective: Health literacy encompasses the knowledge, motivation, and skills required to access health information. This study aimed to assess the level of health literacy among people living with HIV (PLHIV) enrolled in the active cohort of the Day Hospital at Yalgado Ouédraogo University Hospital (CHU-YO). 

Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from December 1, 2024, to January 30, 2025, among 330 people living with HIV selected by convenience sampling at the day hospital of the CHU-YO; health literacy was assessed using the nine dimensions of the health literacy questionnaire (developed by Professor Richard Osborne and colleagues) and a socio-demographic and medical form, with data collected via KoboToolbox and analyzed with Excel. Using hierarchical classification, a multidimensional descriptive analysis was performed to form groups of patients based on their individual scores in the 9 dimensions of the HLQ. This method identified the patient profiles associated with each level of literacy.

Results: A total of 330 PLHIV were included, with a mean age of 49.03 years. The nine HLQ dimensions were used to evaluate health literacy levels. The findings showed that participants demonstrated good active management of their health (mean score: 3.17) and a strong ability to obtain good health information (3.71). However, they faced difficulties in understanding and critically appraising health information, with mean scores of 3.54 and 2.61, respectively. An exploratory multidimensional analysis identified eight health literacy profiles, labeled A to H, with group D having the highest scores and group F the lowest.

Conclusion: This study provides an overview of the health literacy levels of PLHIV at the Day Hospital in 2024. While they demonstrated the ability to seek health information and actively manage their health, they encountered challenges in understanding and evaluating health information.

Keywords

Acknowledgements: No acknowledgements for this study.


Availability of Data and Materials: The data that support the findings of this study are available upon request from the author.


Conflicts of interest: No conflict of interest.


Consent for publication: Not applicable.


Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate: The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles outlined in the World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. 


Funding: This work did not receive any funding.


Authors’ Contributions: Ahmed KABORE (PhD) designed the study methodology, provided scientific supervision, and oversaw the work. He also contributed to drafting and critically revising the manuscript. Caroline KAZIENGA (MPH) contributed to data collection, data analysis, and drafting of the manuscript. Relwende Aristide YAMEOGO (MD) contributed to methodological guidance, follow-up of the work, and scientific revision of the manuscript. Grâce-Alice Enam Bladavi GUMEDZOE-HOSETO (MPH) contributed to data analysis, drafting, and critical revision of the manuscript. Hermine Akossito TOGNON (MPH) contributed to data analysis and revision of the manuscript. Ollo Mathieu SOME (MD) contributed to data collection, data processing, and revision of the manuscript. Rayende Juste Romaric SOUBYABIGA (BSc) contributed to data collection, data processing, and drafting of the manuscript. Lorraine Maïlice Pougniseri BOUGMA (MPH) contributed to data collection, data processing, and revision of the manuscript. Félicité NANA (PhD) provided methodological support and contributed to the scientific review of the manuscript. Abdoulaye Hama DIALLO (MD, PhD) contributed to scientific orientation, critical review, and validation of the manuscript. Nicolas MEDA (MD, PhD) provided overall scientific supervision, validated the results, and critically revised the manuscript. Ismaël DIALLO (MD, PhD) contributed to strategic orientation, critical review, and final validation 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

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 08 October 2025

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