Comparison of health literacy between medical and non-medical students in Shahid Beheshti Universities in the academic year 92-93

Health literacy was defined as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” Health literacy is a key outcome of health education activity, which should be situated in the broader concept of health promotion. Limited health literacy can reduce adults’ ability to comprehend and adhere treatment plans. This study aimed to determine and compare health literacy between medical and non-medical students in Shahid Beheshti Universities in the academic year 92-93. This cross-sectional study with approach to its descriptive-analytic sets with 500 students enrolled in medical and non-medical students of Shahid Beheshti Universities. The data collection was performed using the Newest Vital Sign questionnaire. Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSS win/18 using descriptive analytical statistics, independent t-test, chi-square and linear regression. Our findings showed 26.4% medical students had inadequate health literacy, and 31.2% had adequate health literacy. Also 44.8% non-medical students had inadequate health literacy. We observed statistically significant differences in mean score of health literacy between two groups (p<0.001). This indicates that health literacy in medical students is better than non-medical students. Results of this study showed that based on NVS questionnaire a wide range of students had inadequate and marginal health literacy. This suggested the need for greater attention to the issue of health literacy on health promotion programs.