Health literacy and behavioral health factors in adults.

OBJECTIVES

This study was to examine the relationship between health literacy (HL) and health behaviors in the South Bohemia Region in the Czech Republic (CR) and compare them to HL and health behaviors in the Visegrád group countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia). The paper reports the results from the research in the CR.

STUDY DESIGN

A quantitative descriptive study.

METHODS

The sample was stratified by sex and age and included a representative sample of 303 adults. The data were collected using the combination of a country-specific questionnaire with the HLS-EU-16 standardized questionnaire.

RESULTS

Exercise was significantly associated with perceived health and HL; those with a lower level of HL did not exercise during the previous month. Based only on full answers (N = 251), inadequate HL was identified in 17.5% of the respondents (44), marginal HL in 31.5% (77), and adequate HL in 51% (128) of the respondents. Nearly 49% of the participants evaluated their health as 'good', 25.7% rated their health as 'very good' and 'satisfactory' by 25.7%. But 41.6% experienced one or more chronic diseases, 37.6% had some limitations to their health, and 20.5% smoked. For alcohol consumption, 26% drank weekly and 23% drank two to three times a month. Exercise varied from never (29.7%) to daily (7.9%).

CONCLUSION

Based on our results, we conclude that health behavior risk factors are still present in the South Bohemia region of the CR regardless of levels of HL reported on the HLS-EU-16.