School of Medicine & Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
UQ Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Health Promot J Austr. 2024 Jul;35(3):617-627. doi: 10.1002/hpja.790. Epub 2023 Aug 9.
With the emerging focus on designing health-literate organisations and health care systems, it is essential to understand the health literacy profiles of the medical workforce including medical students, as medical professionals play a key role in within these systems. Medical professionals contribute to good patient health outcomes through enabling access to appropriate health care, provision of quality health information and collaborative shared decision-making, which are fundamental health literacy competencies. The aim of this study is to identify health literacy strengths and weaknesses of medical students enrolled in an Australian Doctor of Medicine programme.
Students from all 4 years of an Australian Doctor of Medicine programme were invited to complete an anonymous, online survey in January 2021. Health literacy profiles were identified using the 9-domain, 44-item multi-dimensional Health Literacy Questionnaire, a validated tool which comprehensively evaluates health literacy strengths and weaknesses from diverse perspectives. Demographic characteristics and social attributes were also recorded. The results were compared with Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
Eighty-six participants completed the survey. Most participants were female students (57%) who spoke English at home (88%) with tertiary-educated fathers (60%) and resided in locations associated with high socioeconomic status during adolescence (61%). Males scored significantly higher in three domains which explored health information access and appraisal, and ability to actively engage with health care providers. Students' scores were significantly lower than the Australian general population in Domain 6 (Ability to actively engage with health care providers) and Domain 7 (Navigating the health care system).
Medical students' health literacy profiles indicate areas of weakness in their ability to engage with health care providers and to navigate the health system. Medical educators will need to create opportunities to address these weaknesses within medical curricula. Gender differences identified in self-rated ability to access and appraise health information requires further exploration. SO WHAT?: Further understanding of health literacy profiles of medical students may influence design of medical school curricula.
随着人们越来越关注设计具有健康素养的组织和医疗保健系统，了解包括医学生在内的医疗队伍的健康素养概况至关重要，因为医疗专业人员在这些系统中发挥着关键作用。医疗专业人员通过使患者能够获得适当的医疗保健、提供高质量的健康信息以及协作式共同决策，从而促进患者获得良好的健康结果，这些都是基本的健康素养能力。本研究旨在确定入读澳大利亚医学博士课程的医学生的健康素养优势和劣势。
邀请澳大利亚医学博士课程的所有 4 年级学生参加 2021 年 1 月进行的匿名在线调查。使用 9 个领域、44 个项目的多维健康素养问卷确定健康素养概况，这是一种经过验证的工具，可从多个角度全面评估健康素养的优势和劣势。还记录了人口统计学特征和社会属性。将结果与澳大利亚统计局的数据进行比较。
86 名参与者完成了调查。大多数参与者是女性学生（57%），他们在家中说英语（88%），父亲受过高等教育（60%），并且在青少年时期居住在与高社会经济地位相关的地方（61%）。男性在探索健康信息获取和评估以及积极与医疗保健提供者互动的三个领域的得分明显更高。学生的分数在第 6 域（积极与医疗保健提供者互动的能力）和第 7 域（导航医疗保健系统）的得分明显低于澳大利亚一般人群。
医学生的健康素养概况表明，他们在与医疗保健提供者互动和导航医疗系统的能力方面存在劣势。医学教育者将需要在医学课程中创造机会来解决这些劣势。自我评估获取和评估健康信息能力方面的性别差异需要进一步探讨。
进一步了解医学生的健康素养概况可能会影响医学院校课程的设计。
