Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Mar 24;21(1):589. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10589-z.
Health literacy is essential to self-care, which is an important precedence to improve the quality of healthcare services and a key factor in health. It also plays a pivotal role in decision-making in various health fields. Therefore, policymakers consider health literacy to be a primary tool to promote community health and enhance the proper use of healthcare services. The present study aimed to assess the health literacy status of the Kurdish population in Kurdistan province, Iran based on the nine constructs of the Iranian health literacy questionnaire (IHLQ) individually and collectively and determine the significant effects of demographic variables on health literacy.
This cross-sectional study was conducted on the Iranian adult Kurdish population living in the urban and rural areas of Kurdistan province, willing to participate during April 2017-September 2018. Data were collected using the IHLQ. The sample size was determined to be 980 people, with 490 in the rural areas and 490 in the urban areas. The researchers visited potential participants at their doorstep, asking them to complete the questionnaire. The willing participants were assisted in completing the IHLQ in case they were illiterate; the questions and answers were read by the researchers to the participants, and the responses were recorded.
About 50.4% (n = 494) of the Kurdish population had poor health literacy, while 34.0% (n = 333) had average health literacy, and 15.6% (n = 153) had good health literacy. Meanwhile, 60.2% of the participants obtained poor scores in the construct of health information access, and 74.1% (n = 726) obtained poor scores in the individual empowerment construct. In addition, the analysis of the adjusted model indicated that education level (lowest β = 7.42; P = 0.001) and in male participants (β = - 1.10; P = 0.001) were significantly associated with higher health literacy.
According to the results, the investigated Kurdish population mostly had average or low health literacy. Therefore, proper strategies should be adopted to enhance the health literacy of this population and increase their access to health information. Furthermore, effective training should be provided to these individuals (especially vulnerable social groups) to improve their individual capabilities to compensate for poor health literacy.
健康素养对于自我保健至关重要，自我保健是提高医疗服务质量和健康的重要前提，也是各种健康领域决策的关键因素。因此，政策制定者认为健康素养是促进社区健康和增强医疗服务合理利用的主要工具。本研究旨在根据伊朗健康素养问卷（IHLQ）的九个构建体单独和集体评估伊朗库尔德人口的健康素养状况，并确定人口统计学变量对健康素养的显著影响。
这是一项横断面研究，于 2017 年 4 月至 2018 年 9 月在伊朗库尔德斯坦省的城乡地区进行，居住在那里的伊朗成年库尔德人愿意参加。使用 IHLQ 收集数据。确定样本量为 980 人，农村地区 490 人，城市地区 490 人。研究人员登门拜访潜在参与者，要求他们完成问卷。对于不识字的参与者，研究人员会协助他们完成 IHLQ；研究人员会向参与者阅读问题和答案，并记录他们的回答。
大约 50.4%（n=494）的库尔德人口健康素养较差，34.0%（n=333）的人健康素养一般，15.6%（n=153）的人健康素养良好。同时，60.2%的参与者在健康信息获取结构中获得较差的分数，74.1%（n=726）在个人赋权结构中获得较差的分数。此外，调整模型的分析表明，教育水平（最低β=7.42；P=0.001）和男性参与者（β=−1.10；P=0.001）与较高的健康素养显著相关。
根据研究结果，调查的库尔德人口大多具有一般或较低的健康素养。因此，应采取适当的策略来提高这一人群的健康素养，增加他们获取健康信息的机会。此外，应向这些人（特别是弱势群体）提供有效的培训，以提高他们的个人能力，弥补健康素养的不足。
