health literacy

The decrease in childbearing gradually pushes the age structure of the population out of youth and towards old age. This study aimed at investigating the desire to have children and its relationship with health literacy and spiritual health in married women of Fariman City, Iran, in 2023.

In this cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study, 357 married women were selected by multi-stage sampling method. Data were collected based on 4 questionnaires including demographic information, desire for fertility, health literacy, and spiritual health, and were analyzed using SPSS software and descriptive and analytical tests.

The average score of health literacy was 76.89 ± 23.16 (adequate), the average score of willingness to have children was 100.207 ± 12.77, and the average score of spiritual health was 72.53 ± 7.11 (moderate). The results did not show a significant relationship between health literacy and the desire to have children and spiritual health; however, there was a positive and significant relationship between the desire to have children and spiritual health (P = 0.042, r = 0.108). The variables of women's place of residence, education, and occupation had a significant relationship with spiritual health, and the variables of women's education and age had a significant relationship with health literacy (P < 0.001). The most important causes of delay in having children were expressed as economic factors (52.4%), personal factors (32.5%), and cultural factors (5.3%). There was a significant relationship between occupation, income, and education with unwillingness to have children (P < 0.001).

It seems that solving economic problems (employment and income level) as the most important reason for reluctance to have children can lead to an increase in having children. In order to achieve this goal, the joy of becoming a parent can be promoted through promoting spiritual health, and people's negative views on having more children can be corrected in various possible ways, and health interventions can be carried out to increase women's spiritual health.

Mothers are mainly responsible for their child’s oral and dental health during childhood and must acquire adequate oral health literacy especially regarding the primary dentition. Therefore, the present study investigated mothers' oral health literacy level and its relationship with children's oral health status.

This descriptive cross-sectional study, included 195 children with 3-6 years of age and their mothers, who referred to the Pediatric Dentistry Department of Yazd Dental Faculty in 2024. Children were divided into four age groups; 3, 4, 5 and 6 year olds. Mothers ' oral health literacy was assessed using the OHL-AQ (Oral Health Literacy-Adult Questionnaire). Each mother obtained an oral health literacy score, with 100 being the highest score possible. Children’s dmft was recorded through clinical examination. Data were analyzed using SPSS25 software and Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression tests. The significance level was considered to be 0.05.

Mother’s average oral health literacy score was 60.11±51.78. The average dmft index of children was 4.06±1.35. The average number of decayed  teeth (d) was 2.23±1.40, filled (f) was 1.05±0.86, and missing (m) was 0.77±0.86. In all four age groups, there was a positive relationship between the mothers’ oral health literacy score with dmft index, the number of decayed teeth, and the number of missing teeth, and there was a negative and significant relationship with the number of filled teeth in their child (r= -0.807, P<0.0001). Oral health literacy and children's age were predictors of children's dmft index (P<0.001).

In mothers with higher oral health literacy, the average dmft index, the number of decayed and missing teeth in children was lower, and the number of filled teeth was greater.

Healthcare workers should have acceptable ehealth literacy. This study was conducted to determine the effect of an educational intervention based on the Freire educational model on the ehealth literacy of healthcare workers in Bojnurd City.

The present study was an interventional and quasi-experimental research conducted among all healthcare providers working in health centers in the city of Bojnord. Participants were selected through a census method and divided into two groups: an intervention group (n=40) and a comparison group (n=40). The data collection tool included a two-part questionnaire consisting of a demographic information form and a standard ehealth literacy questionnaire. Interventions were conducted based on Freire's model in 5 combined training sessions, including theoretical, practical, and virtual face-to-face sessions for the intervention group. The questionnaires were completed by the subjects before, immediately after, and two months after the educational intervention. The data were analyzed using SPSS24 software and appropriate statistical tests.

Based on the results of the study, there was no statistically significant difference between the mean scores of ehealth literacy in the intervention and control groups before the educational intervention (P=0.064). However, a statistically significant difference was observed between the mean ehealth literacy scores in the intervention group compared to the control group immediately and two months after the educational intervention (P<0.05).

As a result, the educational intervention based on the Freire education model is effective in improving the level of ehealth literacy of healthcare workers. Therefore, it is essential to plan and take action to empower healthcare workers in this field so that they can take steps to improve the health of their society.

Exclusive breastfeeding is a vital factor in improving maternal and child health. Studies among Iranian mothers indicate suboptimal rates of exclusive breastfeeding, as well as low levels of awareness and self-efficacy in this regard. Breastfeeding education plays a crucial role in addressing this issue. However, current training programs in Iranian healthcare centers primarily focus on general literacy rather than health literacy, which encompasses the ability to access, comprehend, evaluate, and apply health-related information. Additionally, a uniform approach to breastfeeding education is applied to all mothers, regardless of their individual needs and literacy levels, highlighting the necessity for more effective and targeted educational interventions. This policy brief emphasizes the importance of adopting a health-literacy-based approach to breastfeeding education as a key strategy for enhancing the quality of exclusive breastfeeding programs in Iran. The objective of this brief is to address this gap through a comprehensive assessment, including policy considerations, database analysis, field research, and adherence to regulations in Mother- and Baby-Friendly Hospitals. Proposed strategies include developing and implementing a national health policy on breastfeeding education, along with monitoring and evaluation mechanisms; integrating breastfeeding education with a health-literacy approach into maternal primary care services and electronic maternal and neonatal health records; enhancing the communication and educational skills of midwives and other maternal and child healthcare providers so they can deliver breastfeeding education in a simple, comprehensible, and practical manner that is tailored to mothers' cultural and social needs; and leveraging modern educational technologies, such as multimedia tools and mobile applications, to facilitate maternal access to essential information.

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic and its profound impact on living conditions, our study was conducted with a sense of urgency and relevance. We aimed to shed light on the health literacy of students at Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, a crucial aspect in the fight against the pandemic.

This descriptive study was carried out using a survey method. The sample consisted of 366 students of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences at all academic levels. Three hundred twenty questionnaires could be analyzed. The data collection tool, the COVID-19 Health Literacy Questionnaire, consisted of 22 questions.

Students were at a high level regarding the decisions related to the health literacy of COVID-19, such as preventing transmission to others and protecting themselves.  Students' health literacy in understanding the information about COVID-19 was higher than the average (mean= 3.06), but in finding information related to COVID-19, their literacy was lower than the average (mean= 2.95). The results of Leven's test showed that there was a significant difference in the mean health literacy score of male and female students regarding health information (P-value= 0.028). The results of the one-way ANOVA test showed that there was a significant difference between all the components of the health literacy of COVID-19 in students at different educational levels. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between the level of education and all the components of COVID-19 health literacy.

Our research underscores the role of gender and educational level in shaping the COVID-19 health literacy. These findings have practical implications for health educators and policymakers, highlighting the need for targeted health literacy interventions.

Understanding the link between health literacy and self-care in hypertensive patients is crucial for managing the disease, improving quality of life, and preventing complications.

This study systematically explores the relationships among health literacy, blood pressure, and self-care behaviors.

This systematic review adhered to the Cochrane Handbook and Guidelines for Systematic Reviews, following the PRISMA 2020 criteria. Relevant studies were identified by searching the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science databases for publications between April 20, 1980, and April 24, 2023, using English keywords such as hypertension, "health literacy," "blood pressure," and "self-care." Two independent reviewers assessed the titles and abstracts before reviewing the full texts of selected articles, with any disagreements resolved by a third reviewer.

Out of 1,151 articles, 11 meeting the inclusion criteria were reviewed: eight crosssectional studies, two cohort studies, and one randomized controlled trial. Three articles examined the link between health literacy and blood pressure control, while eight focused on self-care. All studies demonstrated a correlation between health literacy levels and either blood pressure control or self-care behaviors.

Individuals with hypertension who possess higher health literacy are better at managing their blood pressure. However, evidence regarding the effect of health literacy on selfcare behaviors is limited. Thus, employing consistent and appropriate tools to evaluate self-care effectiveness in health promotion programs is crucial.

Since children and adolescents form an important segment of the society, the promotion of health literacy in this segment should be considered. Therefore, the current research was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of health education on improving the health literacy of elementary school students and providing quality solutions.

The present research is of quantitative-qualitative and exploratory method. For this purpose, first, the effectiveness of training courses was examined by analysis of covariance, and then, using semi-structured interviews, quality-partial approaches were identified. The statistical sample in the quantitative part was 60 fifth grade students of Bojnord city, who were selected by multi-stage random sampling method. The educational intervention based on health literacy based on five skills, reading, understanding, evaluation, decision-making and application of information based on health literacy by Montazeri et al. (2013) was designed and implemented during 5 sessions of 60 to 90 minutes. In the qualitative section, 12 educational experts were selected by snowball sampling. The collection tool in the quantitative part is a questionnaire whose validity and reliability were confirmed, and in the qualitative part it was a semi-structured interview. Data analysis in the quantitative part using covariance analysis and in the qualitative part based on the qualitative content analysis method, the three-stage systematic design was analyzed by SPSS software considering the significance level of 5%.

The results of the quantitative section showed that there is a significant difference between the adjusted averages of the scores of the information application component and reading skill according to the experimental and control group membership in the post-test stage (P < 0.05). Also, the health education package has created a significant difference in only two components of application and reading skills in the two test and control groups, and no significant difference was observed in the total score of health literacy. In the qualitative section, solutions to pay attention to the role of school, family, training courses and individual health were suggested in the direction of the quality of the department.

Attention to the development and improvement of health literacy education in primary school should be given more attention as a necessity and the content of training courses should be in line with the goals of health literacy.