Health Literacy Level and its Related Demographic Factors among Employees of Iranian ‎Academic Center for Education, Culture & Research (ACECR) - Khuzestan Branch

نویسندگان

1 Health Education Research Department, ACECR, Khuzestan , Ahvaz, Iran ‎

2 Health Education Research Department, ACECR, Khuzestan , Ahvaz, Iran ‎

3 Health Education Research Department, ACECR, Khuzestan , Ahvaz, Iran ‎

4 Health Education Research Department, ACECR, Khuzestan , Ahvaz, Iran ‎

5 Health Education Research Department, ACECR, Khuzestan , Ahvaz, Iran ‎

doi
10.22038/jhl.2019.37326.1028
چکیده

Background and Objective: Health literacy of individuals have the capacity to obtain, ‎process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make proper health ‎decisions. Considering the importance of health literacy in all strata of society, this study aimed ‎to assess the level of health literacy in employees of Khuzestan-ACECR.‎ Materials and Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 209 employees of Khuzestan-ACECR. Samples were selected and examined randomly. ‎Data collection questionnaire consisted of demographic information and Iranian Health ‎Literacy Questionnaire (HELIA). The collected Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics including independent t-test and one-way ANOVA in SPSS version 23 software. Results: The health literacy score of the research units was 73.13 ± 12.29.The results showed ‎that 2.4%(5 individuals) of participants had low health literacy, 27.3% (57 individuals) had inadequate health literacy, ‎‎48.8% (102 individuals) had adequate health literacy, and 21.5% (45 individuals) had high health literacy. The mean of access to ‎health information and reading in women was better than men, and the mean difference ‎between the two groups was statistically significant (P <0.05). Among the different ‎dimensions of health literacy, only mean score of decision making and understanding health information showed a significant relationship with age (P = 0.008), type of insurance status (P = 0.006) and employees work experience (P = 0.005).   Conclusion: Overall, the findings of this study indicated that most participants ‎had adequate health literacy. Therefore, appropriate educational planning based on the ‎above mentioned variables seems necessary to maintain and improve the health ‎literacy level of employees.‎ Paper Type: Research Article