Kim Sunghyun, Hwang Suwon, Lee Junhyup, Choi Mankyu
Department of Health Policy & Management, College of Public Health Science and Transdisciplinary Major in Learning Health Systems, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
BMC Public Health. 2025 May 17;25(1):1830. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23025-3.
Health literacy has been empirically linked to overall health outcomes. Existing interventions generally employ a variable-centred approach, often neglecting the cumulative impact of various factors and the ways different groups interact with health information. We aimed to explore health literacy in the general population of South Korea by identifying and characterising distinct health literacy profiles using latent profile analysis.
A cross-sectional design was utilised, analysing health literacy data from the second wave of the Korea Health Panel Survey (collected between March and July 2021) with responses from 9,509 adults. Health literacy was assessed in the domains of health management, disease prevention, and health promotion using the 16-item European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire. Latent profile analysis was used to identify health literacy profiles, and multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to examine sociodemographic and health-related factors associated with profile membership.
Latent profile analysis revealed three distinct health literacy groups: low (27.91%), moderate (63.51%), and high (8.58%). A social gradient was observed, with disparities in age, education, income, and residence observed across the groups. Membership in the low health literacy group was associated with being older, disability, and chronic disease-populations with heightened healthcare needs.
The findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to address the unique challenges faced by populations with low health literacy in a universal health coverage system such as that of South Korea. By identifying those at highest risk for low HLit and targeting policy measures accordingly, healthcare systems can allocate resources more effectively and make health information genuinely accessible for all. In doing so, such strategies can ultimately help mitigate the disparities highlighted in this study. These insights provide a foundation for policies aimed at promoting health equity through focused health literacy initiatives.
健康素养已通过实证研究与总体健康结果相关联。现有的干预措施通常采用以变量为中心的方法，常常忽视各种因素的累积影响以及不同群体与健康信息互动的方式。我们旨在通过使用潜在剖面分析识别并描述不同的健康素养概况，来探索韩国普通人群的健康素养。
采用横断面设计，分析来自韩国健康面板调查第二轮（2021年3月至7月收集）的健康素养数据，共有9509名成年人做出回应。使用16项欧洲健康素养调查问卷在健康管理、疾病预防和健康促进领域评估健康素养。使用潜在剖面分析来识别健康素养概况，并使用多项逻辑回归分析来检验与概况归属相关的社会人口学和健康相关因素。
潜在剖面分析揭示了三个不同的健康素养群体：低（27.91%）、中（63.51%）和高（8.58%）。观察到一种社会梯度，各群体在年龄、教育程度、收入和居住方面存在差异。低健康素养群体的成员与年龄较大、残疾以及患有慢性病的人群相关，这些人群的医疗保健需求较高。
研究结果强调了在韩国这样的全民健康覆盖系统中，需要采取有针对性的干预措施来应对低健康素养人群面临的独特挑战。通过识别低健康素养风险最高的人群并相应地制定政策措施，医疗保健系统可以更有效地分配资源，并使健康信息真正为所有人所用。这样做，这些策略最终有助于减轻本研究中突出的差异。这些见解为旨在通过有针对性的健康素养举措促进健康公平的政策提供了基础。
