Health Literacy and Its Related Factors in Non-Medical College Students

Health literacy plays a vital role in health education and health promotion and has received increasing attention as a means to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequality. The students’ awareness of health literacy and their weaknesses in this area are essential for educational planning.

This study aimed to investigate the health literacy of non-medical college students and it’s affecting factors.

This is a correlational study conducted on 250 non-medical students at the Islamic Azad University of Rasht branch, Rasht City, Iran in the academic year 2018-2019. They were selected using a random sampling method. The data collection tool was the Health Literacy For Iranian Adults (HELIA) questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using the descriptive and analytical statistics (t-test, the Pearson correlation test, and the Chi-square test).

The Mean±SD of the HELIA score was 68.44±12.72 (out of 100). About 6.8% of students had inadequate health literacy, 29.6% problematic health literacy, 54.4% adequate health literacy, and 9.2% excellent health literacy. Students had the highest score in the dimensions of understanding Mean±SD (77.11±15.82) and access Mean±SD (72.35±16.73), while in decision-making and applying health information Mean±SD (55.62±15.01) they had the lowest score. There was no statistically significant correlation between students’ age and health literacy scores, but a statistically significant relationship was reported between their gender and health literacy levels (P=0.049). The Internet (54.8%) and physicians and health workers (27.2%) were the most important sources of information about health for students.

 Many students lacked sufficient health literacy. Since most of them received information about health issues through the Internet, educational health programs and contents can be provided to them through the Internet and social networks.