Health literacy and its associated factors among patients in commune health stations, Vietnam

Abstract

Background: Health literacy is a necessary pre-condition for the involvement in decisions about health and health care. It is increasingly noted in research and practice as it is closely linked to the determinants of health behavior, health outcomes, use of health services and the quality of health systems. In Vietnam, researches on health literacy are still very limited, especially on patients. This study aim to investigate the health literacy levels and its associated factors among patients in commune health stations, Vietnam. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted via a convenient sample of 400 patients aged 18 and older come to medical and treatment at four commune health stations in Hue city. The questionnaire used in this research is the short-form health literacy survey tool (HL-SF12) based on the HLS-EU-Q (Tuyen V. Duong et al 2015). We used multiple logistics regression to identify factors significantly associated with General-Health Literacy (GEN-HL). Results: The mean GEN-HL score was 22.44±8.83. The proportion of ＂inadequate＂ (GEN-HL: 0-25), ＂problematic＂ (GEN-HL: ＞25 - 33), ＂sufficient＂ (GEN-HL: ＞33 - 42), ＂excellent＂ (GEN-HL: ＞42 - 50) in HL were 61.5%, 21.5%, 16.0%, and 1.0% repeatedly. Findings showed that the limited HL (GEN-HL ≤33) was 83.0%, in health care was 78.5%, in disease prevention was 78.7% and 76.0% in health promotion. Limited health literacy was associated with: Religious belief (OR=3.13; 95%CI 1.56-6.31; p=0.001), watched medical-related TV series (OR=4.06; 95%CI 1.75-9.45; p=0.001), health problems limited activities (OR=2.61; 95%CI 1.22-5.59; p=0.013), community activities (OR=7.02; 95%CI 3.29-15.01; p＜0.001), periodic health examination (OR=3.07; 95%CI 1.46-6.44; p=0.003). Conclusion: Findings of this study help to determine the level of health literacy of patients and factors related to the health literacy in patients. This is the basis for the appropriate interventions to improve the effectiveness of patient's care and treatment in primary health care system.