Journal of Health Literacy
Volume:7 Issue: 1, Spring 2022

The level of health literacy of individuals contributes to their ability to protect and improve health and to exhibit positive health behaviours. The concept of health literacy entails that individual should have basic health knowledge. The study was conducted to determine the level of health literacy in academics at Harran University.  The participants of this descriptive study were 115 academics. The Turkish Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire-32 and the introductory information form were used to collect data.  Of the participants, 67.0% were male, 75.7% were married, and 73.0% were in the faculty. The mean health literacy score of the participants is 34.51. There was no statistically significant difference between the participants' gender, marital status, title, workplace, working time and the mean total index score (p>0.05). The lowest mean scores in the health care sub-dimension were related to the process of appraising information (mean: 30.08), whereas the lowest scores in the disease prevention and health promotion sub-dimension were related to the process of applying information (mean: 30.08).  It was found that the health literacy of the participants was not at the desired level. In order to increase the health literacy levels of the academics, who are seen as role models in society, it can be recommended to conduct interventional efforts with broader samples.

Coronaviruses (COV) is a large group of viruses that can infect humans and cause diseases ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndrome. Social anxiety and stress responses are an important consequence of the coronavirus outbreak in world. This study aimed to examine key elements related to perceived threat and stress responses in the face of coronavirus based on the health belief model. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted on 200 participants after prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Iran from April to August 2020. The study population were selected through convenience sampling from residents who lived in Razavi Khorasan province, Iran. The survey assessed the participant's demographic information, perceived threat of SARS-CoV-2 infection, stress responses using originally developed assessment scores.  The mean age of the participants was 31.7 (SD 7.6) years. Many respondents were females (61.5%; n: 123) and age of from 27 to 36 occupied the majority of the population (40.5%; n: 81). The results showed the mean score of perceived threat was 37. 6±3. 9 (37.04-38.15; 95% CI) and the mean scores of stress response was 29.19±8.04 (28.6-30.31; 95% CI). There was a significant relationship between the perceived threat variable and stress responses (r = 0.45, p<0.05). In the Iran population, perceived susceptibility and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection was very high. This suggests some impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities’ behavioral responses in Iran. The findings of this study would contribute to the timely behavioral assessment of the community benefits to improve the preventative interventions and risk communication strategies during an epidemic.

Nowadays, oral health literacy is an important and influential component on people's general health. One of the newest indicators in this field is 14-item Health Literacy in Dentistry (HeLD-14) questionnaire but it has never been applied in Persian. The purpose of the present study was to validate the usage of HeLD-14 among Iranians.  A consecutive sample (n= 400 adults) participated in this validation study. The subjects were selected by random sampling from those referring to dental clinics in Kerman .All participants self-completed the (standard forward & backward) translated HeLD-14. Construct validity was assessed by examining the correlation between HeLD-14 scores and self-reported oral health variables (referring to a dentist in the last year, oral health, perceived need to dental treatments & having removable prosthesis appliances). Reliability was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha (for internal consistency) and corrected item-total correlation. Effect size (ES) and Standardized Response Mean (SRM) were calculated for the responsiveness of the scale and exploratory factor analysis was done by measuring Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO), Bartlett’s sphericity test and scree plot. The translated HeLD-14 had high reliability and validity. the subjects who had more dental needs based on their self-appraisal believed that they had more favorable oral health and had higher OHL level, and subjects who wore dentures had low OHL levels(P<0.05) indicated sufficient construct validity. Moreover, the confirmatory factor analysis and expletory of factor analysis was done. The findings of this study confirm the validity and reliability of the Persian version of HeLD-14.

Although most upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are caused by viruses, antibiotics are used for most children with URTIs symptoms in practice. Therefore this study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude and practice as one of the leading factors of using antibiotics  in URTIs among mothers with at least one 6 month-6 year child. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019. The study population consisted of 406 mothers with children aged 6 months to 6 years who had referred to selected comprehensive health centers in Yazd to vaccinate one of their children. Participants were selected through multi-stage sampling. The data was collected using a validated questionnaire with five parts including demographic, knowledge, attitude, and practice questions related to URTIs and antibiotic use in the last three months. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics V22.0 software. A total of 406 mothers participated in the study. Nearly two-third of these participants benefit from a good level of knowledge. Meanwhile, most of them had moderate attitudes (83.7%) and performance levels (67.7%). Most of the 243 (84.5%) mothers reported that they didn't have any arbitrary use of antibiotics for their children’s URTIs during the past three months. In addition, 65.3% stated that they never give antibiotics to their child without a doctor's prescription Although educational interventions to improve the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice in the community especially among parents are necessary, performing more KAP studies on physicians regarding the administration of antibiotics in URTIs as well as provision of valid and indigenous guidelines for the optimal administration of antibiotics may be helpful.

Health literacy can be effective in the control and self-care in old age, how to receive care services, reduce the costs of the health system; therefore, we aimed to investigate the relationship between health literacy and the rate of geriatric care programs with self-care ability in elderly women. This correlative study was conducted on 260 women aged ≥60 years covered by the health centers in Dezful who were selected by using randomized sampling method. Data were collected by HELIA, SASE questionnaire, and checklist of the care plan received. Data were analyzed by SPSS 21, descriptive statistics and statistical tests.  The results showed that 247 (95%) women had poor health literacy levels and 223 (85.8%) women had low self-care ability and 77(29.6%) of them have a desirable care for the elderly. There was a significant relationship between health literacy and self-care ability (P<0.05, r=0/4-0/7) and the significant relationship was also found between health literacy and self-care ability in the two levels of desirable and undesirable receipt of care program (P<0.05).  Health literacy and receiving integrated and comprehensive geriatric care programs can directly affect the self-care ability of older women. Considering the increase in the elderly population of Iran and the challenges arising from it, attention to the self-care ability and maintaining individual independence of the elderly in parallel with promoting health literacy with education in the field of health information of old age and specific problems of this period and strategies is required.

Health literacy is one of the most important factors, which helps women to maintain and promote their self-care behaviors. It also helps them to have better versions of themselves by taking life-saving self-care activities and facilitating the process of preserving and endorsing their health. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between health literacy and self-care among women who live in the different parts of the city of Yazd. In a cross-sectional study, 737 women were selected to participant in this study thought multi-stage cluster sampling from Jun, 2020 to October, 2020. Data were collected using a researcher-made self-care questionnaire and Chinn and McCarthy’s Health Literacy Scale (AAHLS). Descriptive statistics, ANOVA test and structural equation model were used through SPSS and AMOS software version 24 to analyze date. The results revealed that the effect of health literacy on self-care was positive and significant (β=0.51, p<0.001). The effectiveness rates of health literacy on women’s self-care in the suburb, central, and upper parts were 0.56, 0.50, and 0.42, respectively (p<0.001). The fit indices showed that the model had a good fit (CMIN/DF= 2.341, NFI= 0.915, RMSEA= 0.030, CFI= 0.949, TLI= 0.926, GFI= 0.965, IFI= 0.950). Women living in the upper parts had relatively higher levels of self-care and health literacy compared to those living in the marginal parts of the city. Health literacy plays an effective role in promoting women's self-care performance. Therefore, medical sociologists recommend relevant educational interventions to promote health literacy and self-care behavior in women.

Maternal health literacy is important  because women’s health and their children and family’s health depends on their women’s health literacy skills. Inadequate health literacy is a main factor to several health disparities and may   affect women’s spiritual health. However, the linkage between maternal health literacy and women's spiritual health has not yet been studied well and it remains an open question. . The aim of this study is to examine level of maternal health literacy of women Torbat Heydarieh and to explore its association with spiritual health. A cross-sectional study was conducted, in 2018, through a multi-stage sampling design on 269 women in Torbat Heydarieh, Iran. Data was collected through valid and reliable questionnaires including the maternal health literacy, Paloutzian and Ellison Spiritual Health. Data were analyzed using correlation and regression coefficients test by the SPSS23.0. mean age of the studied women, maternal health literacy score, and spiritual health were 28.9±5.8 years, 42.9±5.8, and 88.7±13.3, respectively. There was no significant relationship between maternal health literacy and spiritual health (P=0.20), and level of education had a significant relationship with health literacy (P<0.0001).   In this study, also there was no significant relationship between maternal health literacy and spiritual health among women, which can be an area of future research.

 Adequate health literacy and compliance with COVID-9 health and safety protocols are among the main ways to break the SARS-CoV-2 transmission chain. This study aimed to investigate the level and relationship between awareness, attitude and behavior of students, staff and faculty in Mashhad University of medical sciences, regarding compliance with COVID-9 health and safety protocols in 2021. This analytical cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Mashhad University of medical sciences, Mashhad, Iran in October 2021. The study sample included 411 students, staff and faculty selected through available sampling. The data were collected using a previous standard questionnaire and analyzed through the partial least squares (PLS) approach for structural equation modeling (SEM) using Smart PLS software (version 3.0). We employed descriptive and inferential statistics for our data analysis.  Respondents ‘awareness, attitude and behavior towards COVID-19 health protocols yielded significant positive correlations (P<0.001). Furthermore, the mean score percentage of awareness, attitude and behavior were 85%, 65% and 84% of the total score, respectively.  Additionally, respondents’ mean scores for behavior and attitude differ significantly across age, gender, job and marital status.  The level of awareness of the participants in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences about the COVID-19 health safety protocols was good. A significant relationship was observed between awareness, attitude and behaviors related to compliance with COVID-19 protocols. It seems that these people can be good representatives in the community to increase people's awareness, considering the participants’ observance of the protocols.