Abstract
Abstract Background According to recent projections, even 10% of Polish gross domestic product is contributed by Ukrainian immigrants. There is also a considerable number of Ukrainians continuing university education in Poland. The level of health literacy in Ukrainian society has not been studied so far. The aim of the study was the comparison of health literacy (HL) and e-health literacy (eHL) of young adult Ukrainian (UA) women with their Polish (PL) counterparts Methods A snowball technique was used to recruit a sample of UA women working or studying in Poland to the Internet-based survey. The questionnaire used in the study consisted of the 16-item European HL Survey questionnaire (HLS-EU-16), eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS), the set of the questions asking about health behaviours (HB), self-assessment of health status (HS) and items exploring sociodemographic variables. For comparison, the data of an age-matched sample of 100 respondents was extracted from the online survey performed in a representative sample of PL women. Results The mean age (standard deviation, SD) of 57 UA respondents was 20.23 (1.78) years and in Polish sample 20.25 (1.79). HL did not differ between both groups (11.06 (4.22) vs 11.44 (4.34), respectively, p = 0.53), but eHL was significantly lower in UA group (25.91 (5.36) vs 28.17 (5.37), U Mann-Whitney test, p = 0.01). Only 58.5% of UA respondents vs 80.5% of PL ones assessed their HS as at least good (Fisher exact test, p < 0.001). The rates of active smoking (34.6% vs. 35.0%, p = 0.55), using e-cigarettes (35.3% vs 34.0%, p = 0.99), frequent alcohol consumption (26.9% vs. 20%, p = 0.41), and intensive physical activity (49.0% vs. 38.0%, p = 0.22) did not differ between study groups. Conclusions Young UA women show lower eHL than PL counterparts. Although HL and HB in both groups did not differ significantly, UA respondents have assessed their HS much lower than PL participants. Key messages E-health literacy and self-assessed health status were significantly lower among young Ukrainian than among Polish women. Both groups did not differ for health literacy and health behaviours.
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