Survey of the level of health literacy of clerics of Birjand in 2019

The level of health literacy of clerics is important due to their position and verbal influence on citizens. This study endeavored to investigate health literacy among the clergy of Birjand.

This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 184 clerics of Birjand through convenience sampling using the Iranian Health Literacy Questionnaire (National Health Literacy Research Plan) and the data were analyzed using Statistical tests t-test and analysis of variance at the significance level of = 0.05.

The mean score of health literacy of the participants was 122.09 ± 15.09 (average) and in terms of examining the dimensions of literacy the two dimensions of access health and information acquisition (16.83 ± 53.3) as well as judgment and evaluation (18.09 ± 3.44) obtained a poor score. In the study of sources of information in the clergy, the major source of health information was the Internet (59.2%), followed by radio and television (49.3%) and booklets, pamphlets, educational brochures, and propaganda (44%).Discussion and

The level of health literacy of clerics in Birjand is not favorable, and considering the role and position of clerics in society, policymakers' attention to planning and development of health literacy of this reference group seems indispensable.