Investigation of the Health Literacy Level of Women in Reproductive Age as a Public Health Problem in Zahedan

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate health literacy (HL) status among women of reproductive age who referred to urban health centers in Zahedan. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 250 women of reproductive age (15-49 years old) who referred to urban health centers in Zahedan, Iran were assessed using the Iranian Health Literacy Questionnaire. To analyze the data, SPSS 15 software and statistical tests including independent sample t test and chi-square test were used. Results: The mean ± standard deviation (SD) age of participants in this study was 26.32 ± 5.83 with a minimum of 15 and maximum of 45 years. The majority of the participants (32.4%) held a high school diploma and 88.8% of them were housewives. The mean HL score was computed 7.15 out of 20 indicating that 100% of the participants had inadequate HL. There were significant relationships between HL score and age, occupation, educational degree, language and living location (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Considering high levels of inadequate HL among women of reproductive age in Zahedan, it is recommended to use HL measures to screen people with inadequate HL, to provide each individual with information and services which are appropriate to their HL skills and to be able to reduce the consequences of inadequate HL.