Prevalence and factors associated with limited hypertensive health literacy among Myanmar migrant workers in Northeastern Thailand

Abstract

Background: Regarding hypertension, limited health literacy was considerably high worldwide. Although hypertensive health literacy in general population was explored by some studies, there was no study specific for it among Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand. Objectives: Aimed to explore the prevalence of limited hypertensive health literacy and identify the associated factors among Myanmar migrant workers in Northeastern Thailand. Method: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among Myanmar migrant workers with the age between completed 18 years to 59 years old in Khon Kaen Province, Northeastern Thailand from June 2023 to August 2023. Multistage random sampling procedure was applied to select 406 sample. A validated and reliable structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression were used. The association between limited hypertensive health literacy and each statistically significant factor (p-value < 0.05) after controlling other covariates were described by adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI). Results: Of 406 participants, the overall prevalence of limited hypertensive health literacy was 54% (95% CI: 49.20-59.11). Among the participants, 56% were male and 68% of them were married. Factors associated with limited hypertensive health literacy were pre-hypertension (AOR=1.83, 95% CI: 1.12-3.01), primary and below level of education (AOR=2.26, 95% CI: 1.36-3.74), ≤48 months duration of stay in Thailand (AOR=2.24, 95% CI: 1.44-3.48), poor and fair level of knowledge (AOR=2.02, 95%CI: 1.20-3.42) and poor and fair level of attitude (AOR=2.61, 95%CI: 1.68-4.07). Conclusion: More than half of the study population was limited in hypertensive health literacy. Educational status, duration of stay in Thailand, blood pressure, knowledge and attitude towards hypertension were associated with health literacy among Myanmar migrant population. Thus, creating user-friendly resources and health programs for newcomers is essential to close health literacy disparities. Using multidisciplinary approach could be effective in promoting health literacy.