Study of Health Literacy among Girl Students in Tabriz City, Iran, based on Demographic Characteristics

Health literacy is considered as a global issue, and is considered by policymakers because of its role in decision making of individuals in health-related areas as one of the basic tools for improving the health of the community. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of health literacy among secondary school girl students in Tabriz City, Iran based on demographic characteristics. This was a descriptive-survey study. The statistical population of the study was 25112 secondary school girl students in Tabriz City. The size was 387 using Morgan table, and they were selected using two-stage cluster sampling method. The research tool was Montazeri et al. standard health literacy questionnaire which had 5 dimensions and 33 items. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance analysis (MANOVA). There was a significant difference between the scores of students' health literacy and their dimensions, accessibility, reading, understanding, evaluation, and decision making, in the three age groups. Moreover, there was a significant difference between the reading, comprehension, assessment, and decision-making scores of students in the five areas, but there was no significant difference between the access scores of students in the districts. The results of the study could be used in education programming to improve health literacy among students. The students, who find more educational achievement via this programs, are the main beneficiaries in this regard