The Relationship of Health Literacy to Quality of Life and Demographic Factors in pregnant women: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background and objective: Pregnancy is one of the most critical stages in women's lives which is associated with physical, psychological, and often reduced the quality of life. Health literacy is an important element in the ability of a woman to engage in health promotion and prevention activities for herself and her children. This study aimed to determine the relationship of health literacy to the quality of life and some of the demographic factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 pregnant women who were referred to health centers of Gonabad city in 2016 who were selected by census method. Data were collected using demographic questionnaires, health literacy and quality of life, and analyzed by ANOVA, Chi-square, Pearson correlation and multiple regression. Results: The mean age of pregnant women was 27.21±5.4. Total score of health literacy and their quality of life were 103.522±14.507 and 72.611±11.474 respectively. There was a positive and significant relationship between health literacy and quality of life. Health literacy as a predictor of the two dimensions of physical and mental health was the quality of life. Health literacy was significantly correlated with education but did not correlate with other demographic variables. Also, quality of life had a significant relationship with education level and the number of pregnancies. Conclusion: The findings revealed that the level of health literacy and its dimensions is essential to have a better quality so staff and health authorities should have paid attention to the relationship between these two components. Paper Type: Research Article.