Health literacy index in relation to drug information received from pharmacists

Abstract

Despite the significance of health literacy to health outcomes, there remains limited data on it in Indonesia, or whether drug information services provided by pharmacists can improve patients’ health literacy. This study aimed to measure the health literacy indices of health care visitors in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and to identify whether the amount of drug information received from pharmacists, among other factors, is a determinant of health literacy. The research was a cross-sectional study using the Health Literacy Survey-Europe-Asia-Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Asia-Q) that was distributed to 400 respondents in pharmacies, hospitals, and primary health centres in Yogyakarta City. The relationships between respondents’ characteristics, including the amount of drug information received from pharmacists, and their health literacy index were analysed using Chi Square. Results: As many as 67.3 % of respondents had limited health literacy index scores. There was evidence that the scores were relative to the amount of drug information they had received from pharmacists (p ≤ 0.05). This study complements health literacy index data in Yogyakarta City, Indonesia, and provides evidence of potential health literacy determinants.