Abstract
BackgroundHealth literacy (HL) has a deep impact on people’s decisions about their health and health care system. Measurement and improvement of HL level is essential to develop an appropriate health care system. The aim of the study was to (1) conduct a pilot study among the population of Baranya County in Hungary with different socio-economic statuses, (2) evaluate the HL level and (3) found the correlations between socio-economic data, emergency departments’ visits, medical history and HL.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study conducted in 2019 with 186 participants, socio-economic status, health status, HL level and knowledge about the triage system were measured. The questionnaire included questions on socio-economic status, previous chronic diseases, and satisfaction with the emergency care system as well as the standardised European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47). Descriptive statistical analysis (mean, SD, mode) and mathematical statistical analysis (ANOVA, chi2 test, Pearson Correlations, Two sample t-test) were applied. SPSS 24.0 statistical software was used to analyse the data. Relationships were considered significant at the p < 0.05 level.ResultsOne hundred and eighty-six people were involved in the research, but 45 of them were excluded (N = 141). The participation rate was 75.8%. There were significant differences in HL levels by gender and educational level (p = 0.017), health education (p = 0.032) and presence of children in the household (p = 0.049). Educational level (p = 0.002) and type of settlement (p = 0.01) had strong impacts on economic status. We found that 46.1% of the participants had limited comprehensive HL (cHL) level. This proportion was slightly lower for the disease prevention sub-index (33.3%). The average cHL index score was 34.8 ± 8.7 points, the average health care sub-index score was 34.6 ± 9.7 points, the average disease prevention sub-index score was 35.8 ± 9.9 points, and the average health promotion sub-index score was 34.2 ± 9.4 points. 46.1% of the examined population in Hungary had limited HL level.ConclusionsSocio-economic status has a strong influence on HL level. It is not enough to improve awareness but we need to improve knowledge and cooperation with the doctors and health care system.
Highlights
Health literacy (HL) has a deep impact on people’s decisions about their health and health care system
Socio-economic status has a strong influence on HL level
We found that 46.1% of the participants had limited comprehensive HL (cHL) level
Summary
Health literacy (HL) has a deep impact on people’s decisions about their health and health care system. Measurement and improvement of HL level is essential to develop an appropriate health care system. A patient with an adequate HL level has the appropriate information to make adequate decisions about his/her own health, their dependents’ health and community health [2]. For people with more chronic diseases [10, 11] and for the ageing population [10, 12, 13], it is more difficult to find and understand information. Inadequate and marginal HL level is associated with socioeconomic and self-related health status. People living in rural environment (OR = 2.25) and having poor income (OR = 1.59) were significantly correlated with low HL level which cause more frequent hospital treatments and family doctors’ visits [13]. For patients with CVD, their HL level are associated with their health behaviours and health status [18]
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