National Institute for the Analysis of Public Policy, Corso d'Italia 33, 00198 Rome, Italy.
Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Viale GB Morgagni 48, 50134 Florence, Italy.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 23;19(7):3807. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19073807.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an overabundance of valid and invalid information to spread rapidly via traditional media as well as by internet and digital communication. Health literacy (HL) is the ability to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information, making it fundamental for finding, interpreting, and correctly using COVID-19 information. A cross-sectional study of a sample of 3500 participants representative of the Italian adult population aged 18+ years was conducted in Italy in 2021. A validated HL questionnaire was employed, including sections on coronavirus-related HL, general HL, sociodemographic characteristics, risk factors, and respondents' lifestyle. Of our sample, 49.3% had "excellent" levels of coronavirus-related HL and 50.7% had "sufficient" (20.7%) or "limited" (30.0%) levels. Although the overall HL-COVID level was high, many participants reported difficulties dealing with COVID-19 information; in particular, participants older than 65 years, with a low education level, living in southern regions of Italy, and with high financial deprivation. Targeted public information campaigns and the promotion of HL are required for better navigation of health information environments. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to improve HL and to prepare the general population for future emergency and non-emergency situations, confirming that HL can be considered a social vaccine.
新冠疫情大流行导致大量有效和无效信息通过传统媒体以及互联网和数字通信迅速传播。健康素养（HL）是获取、理解、评估和应用健康信息的能力，是寻找、解释和正确使用新冠疫情信息的基础。2021 年，在意大利对一个代表 18 岁以上意大利成年人口的 3500 名参与者的样本进行了一项横断面研究。使用了经过验证的 HL 问卷，包括与冠状病毒相关的 HL、一般 HL、社会人口特征、风险因素以及受访者生活方式等部分。在我们的样本中，49.3%的人具有“优秀”的冠状病毒相关 HL，50.7%的人具有“良好”（20.7%）或“有限”（30.0%）的水平。尽管总体 HL-COVID 水平较高，但许多参与者报告在处理新冠疫情信息方面存在困难；特别是年龄在 65 岁以上、受教育程度较低、居住在意大利南部地区和经济贫困程度较高的参与者。需要开展有针对性的公共信息宣传活动和促进 HL，以更好地应对健康信息环境。新冠疫情大流行凸显了提高 HL 和为未来的紧急和非紧急情况做好准备的必要性，证实了 HL 可以被视为一种社会疫苗。
