Is Health Education at University Associated with Students’ Health Literacy? Evidence from Cross-Sectional Study Applying HLS-EU-Q

Background. Despite the large number of studies assessing health literacy, little research has been conducted with young adults. Since health literacy is related to the setting in which health information is provided, our study aim was to measure health literacy competencies in a sample of university students and to evaluate the relationships between these competencies and their university health education. Methods. A total of 912 university students (aged 18–24 years) completed the 47-item European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47). Results. Perceived difficulties with health information were related to gender, with male students reporting significantly lower health literacy scores. Studying more health education-related subjects was associated with a higher health literacy competency, due to these students’ higher rates of accessing and understanding health information in the health promotion domain. Conclusion. Health literacy among young adult university students is insufficient. The subjects they study are related to their university health education; in particular, the number of health-related subjects they study is positively related to students’ health promotion domain-based competencies.

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Exploring Health Literacy in Medical University Students of Chongqing, China: A Cross-Sectional Study

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0152547 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. e0152547 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Yan Zhang ◽

Fan Zhang ◽

Ping Hu ◽

Wenjie Huang ◽

Lu Lu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

University Students ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Medical University

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Evaluating the Quality of Health-Related WeChat Public Accounts: Cross-Sectional Study

JMIR mhealth and uhealth ◽

10.2196/14826 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (5) ◽

pp. e14826 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Fuzhi Wang ◽

Zhuoxin Wang ◽

Weiwei Sun ◽

Xiumu Yang ◽

Zhiwei Bian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Information ◽

Code Of Conduct ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Washington Dc ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Suitability Assessment ◽

Significant Difference ◽

The Status ◽

Health Related

Background As representatives of health information communication platforms accessed through mobile phones and mobile terminals, health-related WeChat public accounts (HWPAs) have a large consumer base in the Chinese-speaking world. However, there is still a lack of general understanding of the status quo of HWPAs and the quality of the articles they release. Objective The aims of this study were to assess the conformity of HWPAs to the Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode) and to evaluate the suitability of articles disseminated by HWPAs. Methods The survey was conducted from April 23 to May 5, 2019. Based on the monthly (March 1-31, 2019) WeChat Index provided by Qingbo Big Data, the top 100 HWPAs were examined to evaluate their HONcode compliance. The first four articles published by each HWPA on the survey dates were selected as samples to evaluate their suitability. All materials were assessed by three raters. The materials were assessed using the HONcode checklist and the Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM) score sheet. Data analysis was performed with SPSS version 17.0 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA) and Excel version 2013 (Microsoft Inc, Washington DC, USA). Results A total of 93 HWPAs and 210 of their released articles were included in this study. For six of the eight principles, the 93 HWPAs nearly consistently did not meet the requirements of the HONcode. The HWPAs certified by Tencent Corporation (66/93, 71%) were generally slightly superior to those without such certification (27/93, 29%) in terms of compliance with HONcode principles. The mean SAM score for the 210 articles was 67.72 (SD 10.930), which indicated “adequate” suitability. There was no significant difference between the SAM scores of the articles published by certified and uncertified HWPAs (P=.07), except in the literacy requirements dimension (tdf=97=–2.418, P=.02). Conclusions The HWPAs had low HONcode conformity. Although the suitability of health information released by HWPAs was at a moderate level, there were still problems identified, such as difficulty in tracing information sources, excessive implicit advertisements, and irregular usage of charts. In addition, the low approval requirements of HWPAs were not conducive to improvement of their service quality.

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Indonesian Student Nurses’ E-Health Literacy Skills

10.3233/shti210767 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Dame Elysabeth Tarihoran ◽

Dian Anggraini ◽

Enni Juliani ◽

Ressa Ressa ◽

Ihlus Fardan

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

Nursing Students ◽

Health Information ◽

Nursing Student ◽

Student Nurses ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Ehealth Literacy

Background: Nurses should have a good level of e-health literacy to help patients utilize e-health information. Objective: To measure e-health literacy skills and contribute factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 2209 nursing student in Indonesia (October–November 2019) using eHeals. Result: The overall eHealth literacy was 4 (Scale 1–5). There were statistically significant differences between e-Heals score with contribute factors (<0.001). Conclusion: Indonesian nursing students already have basic necessary skills of e-health.

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Exploring Health Literacy in Individuals with Alcohol Addiction: A Mixed Methods Clinical Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17186728 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (18) ◽

pp. 6728

Author(s):

Gabriela Rolova ◽

Beata Gavurova ◽

Benjamin Petruzelka

Keyword(s):

Clinical Practice ◽

Mixed Methods ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Health Information ◽

Mixed Methods Research ◽

Addiction Treatment ◽

Alcohol Addiction ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Literacy Survey ◽

Health Related

This mixed methods research paper explores health literacy (HL) in individuals with alcohol addiction by using the 47-item version of the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47) and semi-structured interviews concerning health-related competencies (access, understand, appraise, and apply health information), and determines the limitations of the HLS-EU-Q47 when used under specific conditions of clinical practice. The questionnaire survey and the interviews were conducted with individuals of different health literacy levels who were undergoing inpatient alcohol addiction treatment. The findings indicate that individuals with alcohol addiction might require different types of health information according to their health literacy level in terms of quantity and quality of information to recover from alcohol addiction and improve their overall health. The implications for the clinical practice of addiction treatment as well as recommendations for national and regional policy are also discussed.

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The health literacy of university students in North Cyprus

Health Promotion International ◽

10.1093/heapro/daaa029 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sultan Sariyar ◽

Hülya Firat Kiliç

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

University Students ◽

Private University ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

University Education ◽

Male Students ◽

Adult Health ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

North Cyprus ◽

Measurement Tools

Abstract Health literacy is individuals' motivation and ability to obtain, understand, evaluate and use health information. Health literacy is very important during university education when students have the ability to acquire and accumulate knowledge of the best way. The aim of this study was to determine the health literacy of university students. The sample of this descriptive cross-sectional study was composed of 365 students who were first-time visitors at the health center of a private university in Northern Cyprus between May and July 2017. An introductory information form and the Adult Health Literacy Scale (AHLS) were used as data collection tools. The mean AHLS score of the students was found as 13.91 ± 2.90. Health literacy was found to be lower for male students and students with more years of study. The students with low daily alcohol use had higher AHLS scores. The results of the study suggest that curricula should be revised to raise the health literacy of university students to the highest level. It is important to organize conferences, seminars and scientific activities to improving the health literacy of male students and students with more years of study. Due to the limitations of studies of health literacy in North Cyprus, future studies should be conducted with larger samples and different measurement tools.

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Generic health literacy of adolescents in Germany: Results of a nationwide cross-sectional survey

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckab164.142 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 31 (Supplement_3) ◽

Author(s):

S Jordan ◽

OM Domanska ◽

AK Loer

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

Health Information ◽

Online Survey ◽

Demographic Factors ◽

Age Group ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Effective Interventions ◽

Health Related ◽

Socio Demographic Factors

Abstract Background For developing effective interventions to promote health literacy in adolescence, differentiated data on the distribution of health literacy levels is required, but still lacking for this age group in many countries. The study aims to measure the distribution of generic health literacy (GHL) among adolescents addressing cognitive, behavioural, communicative and motivational dimensions of GHL. Methods We conducted a representative nationwide cross-sectional online survey among 14-17-year-olds living in Germany (n = 1,235). Data on GHL were collected from 09.2019-12.2019 using the “Measurement of Health Literacy Among Adolescents”-Questionnaire (MOHLAA-Q). It was specially developed for this age-group and consists of a total of 29 items in four subscales: A: “Difficulties in Dealing with Health-Related Information”, B: “Health-Related Communication Skills”, C: “Attitudes toward One's Own Health & Health Information” and D: “Health-Related Knowledge”. We also collected data on socio-demographic factors. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were carried out. Results About half of the 14-17-year-olds reported many (8.4%) or some difficulties (42.2%) in dealing with health information. We observed low communication-related skills in 28.1% of adolescents. Regarding the attitude towards their own health and health information, 56.8% of respondents had a rather “partly passive/partly active” attitude and 8.8% had a “passive” attitude. 22.7% of the adolescents had a low level of health-related knowledge. All socio-demographic factors apart from age showed significant differences in each of the scales: by family affluence in all scales, by gender and by educational level in 3 scales and by migration background in 1 scale. Conclusions The results indicate a need for promoting GHL among adolescents. The differences in the four scales suggest that all dimensions of GHL should be addressed, but also considering socio-demographic factors at the same time.

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The usefulness of health education materials in GP waiting rooms: a cross-sectional study

British Journal of General Practice ◽

10.3399/bjgp18x696845 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 68 (suppl 1) ◽

pp. bjgp18X696845 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Katherine Maskell ◽

Paula McDonald ◽

Priyamvada Paudyal

Keyword(s):

Health Education ◽

Health Information ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Future Research ◽

Waiting Room ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Health Education Materials ◽

The Uk ◽

Changing Knowledge ◽

University Degree

BackgroundMore than half of patients in the UK wait between 5 and 15 minutes before seeing the GP, and this time in the waiting room (WR) provides an ideal opportunity for patient education.AimTo assess patients’ perceptions of the usefulness, noticeability and attractiveness of health education materials (HEMs); and the variety, number, topics, design and accessibility of these HEMs.MethodAn anonymous questionnaire was distributed to patients in the WR to assess their use of health information and perceptions of HEMs. A survey measured the availability of HEMs in the WR and evaluated their quality against 16 accessibility and design criteria.ResultsA total of 556 questionnaires were completed (response rate 97.9%). On average, WRs contained 72 posters covering 23 topics, and 53 leaflets covering 24 topics. Multivariate analysis showed that patients’ perception of usefulness was significantly associated with reading in the WR, using written HEMs, and not having a university degree; whilst noticeability was associated with reading in the WR, and being female. Attractiveness was associated with not having a university degree and shorter waiting time.ConclusionThis study suggests that a wide variety of HEMs are available, and that many patients find them useful and noticeable, however, fewer find them well-designed and attractive. Future research should focus on the effectiveness of generally available HEMs at changing knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and behaviours; and utilising technology to deliver innovative means of providing patient health information.

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Nursing Students’ Health Literacy Level and Health Practices: a Cross Sectional Study at a University in Namibia

10.21203/rs.3.rs-192225/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Takaedza Munangatire ◽

Nestor Tomas ◽

Violetha Mareka

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

Nursing Students ◽

Good Health ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Poor Health ◽

Health Practices ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Health Literacy Level ◽

Literacy Level ◽

Literacy Scores

Abstract Background: Inadequate health literacy and poor health practices among nurses could be a hindrance to empowering the population with good health practices. For the nurses to empower the population, they need to be equipped with good health literacy and good health practices. The starting point of solving this problem is through provision of deliberate health literacy and health practice education in the nursing curriculum. This study explored health literacy level and health practices of nursing students in Namibia. Specifically the study examined the health literacy level, health practices and the relationship between the two among nursing students across four levels of study. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 205 nursing students. A simple random stratified sampling method was used and data were collected using questionnaire for health literacy (16 items) and health practices (11 items. Pearson correlation, independent t-test and One-way ANOVA were used to analyse the data. Results: The overall mean general health literacy score was 13.04± 1.52. The majority (n=157;76.5%) of the students were found to have adequate health literacy scores, 21.5% with moderate health literacy scores and only 2% with inadequate health literacy scores. The overall mean health practice score was 32.4± 5.50. Most (n=106; 51.7%) of the students were found to have poor health practices, 44.4% had average health practices and 3.9% had good health practices. There was no significant relationship between health literacy levels and health practices of the students (p=0.63).Conclusions: Nursing students have good health literacy but more efforts should be applied to maintain such health literacy levels during and beyond the point of graduation. However, with poor health practices, there is need to investigate more on the contributing factors and develop strategies that can support good health practices among nursing students and maybe these can be transferred into their professional careers as nurses.

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Digital health literacy and online information queries in Portuguese university students

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckab164.039 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 31 (Supplement_3) ◽

Author(s):

R Rosário ◽

C Augusto ◽

MJ Silva ◽

S Martins ◽

A Duarte ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Literacy ◽

University Students ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Online Survey ◽

Digital Health ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Online Information ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Logistic Regression Models

Abstract Background Worldwide there is an overwhelming amount of information about COVID-19 circulating online, also named infodemic. Misinformation (the unintentional) and disinformation (the intentional) spreading of false information have proven to be very dangerous to public health. Hence, more than ever, people need skills for searching, evaluating and integrating information related to health in daily life, i.e., health literacy. Until now, little is known about the digital health literacy of university students and their information-seeking behaviour. Hence, this study aimed to analyse the associations between university students' digital health literacy and online information queries during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (and infodemic) in Portugal. Methods A cross-sectional study of 3.084 Portuguese university students (75.7% females), with an average age of 24.2 (SD = 7.5), was conducted using an online survey. We used sociodemographic data (sex, age, subjective social status) and the digital health literacy questionnaire adapted to the specific COVID-19 context. Online information queries included the topics related to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 searched by students. Logistic regression models were performed. Results Online information queries (e.g., individual measures to protect against infection, current spread of the virus, current situation assessments and recommendations) were associated with an increased odds of achieving sufficient digital health literacy. Conclusions Online information queries related to epidemiological and public health topics are significantly associated with digital health literacy in times of COVID-19. Further studies are needed, including programs that improve digital health literacy among university students and increase the availability of high-quality content information.

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Simple scoring algorithm to identify community-dwelling older adults with limited health literacy: a cross-sectional study in Taiwan

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045411 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. e045411

Author(s):

Wen-Hsuan Hou ◽

Ken N Kuo ◽

Mu-Jean Chen ◽

Yao-Mao Chang ◽

Han-Wei Tsai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Health Literacy ◽

High Risk ◽

Health Information ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Scoring Algorithm ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults

ObjectiveHealth literacy (HL) is the degree of individuals’ capacity to access, understand, appraise and apply health information and services required to make appropriate health decisions. This study aimed to establish a predictive algorithm for identifying community-dwelling older adults with a high risk of limited HL.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingFour communities in northern, central and southern Taiwan.ParticipantsA total of 648 older adults were included. Moreover, 85% of the core data set was used to generate the prediction model for the scoring algorithm, and 15% was used to test the fitness of the model.Primary and secondary outcome measuresPearson’s χ2 test and multiple logistic regression were used to identify the significant factors associated with the HL level. An optimal cut-off point for the scoring algorithm was identified on the basis of the maximum sensitivity and specificity.ResultsA total of 350 (54.6%) patients were classified as having limited HL. We identified 24 variables that could significantly differentiate between sufficient and limited HL. Eight factors that could significantly predict limited HL were identified as follows: a socioenvironmental determinant (ie, dominant spoken dialect), a health service use factor (ie, having family doctors), a health cost factor (ie, self-paid vaccination), a heath behaviour factor (ie, searching online health information), two health outcomes (ie, difficulty in performing activities of daily living and requiring assistance while visiting doctors), a participation factor (ie, attending health classes) and an empowerment factor (ie, self-management during illness). The scoring algorithm yielded an area under the curve of 0.71, and an optimal cut-off value of 5 represented moderate sensitivity (62.0%) and satisfactory specificity (76.2%).ConclusionThis simple scoring algorithm can efficiently and effectively identify community-dwelling older adults with a high risk of limited HL.

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