Assessing health science students' health literacy and its association with health behaviours
Blanca Rueda‐Medina, José Luis Gómez‐Urquiza, Rosa María Tapia-Haro, Antonio Casas‐Barragán, María Encarnación Aguilar‐Ferrándiz, María Correa‐Rodríguez
Abstract
Health science students will play an important role in helping their patients to assess health information and thus to examine their health literacy level is crucial. We aimed to assess the health literacy (HL) status and its potential association with health behaviours. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 381 students (mean age of 20.68 ± 3.89 years). The HL questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47) and the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Behaviors (HPLP-II) were used. The overall mean HL score was 36.52 ± 7.73. About 30.2% of students have inadequate or problematic HL. The HPLP-II total score (β = 0.188, 95% CI = 0.024, 0.352), physical activity (β = 0.062, 95% CI = 0.009, 0.116) and health responsibility domains (β = 0.042, 95% CI = -0.001, 0.086) were significantly associated with HL. Most health science students, as future healthcare providers, need to improve health literacy skills. Health literacy was linked to health behaviours, supporting the importance of including focus on health literacy in higher education curriculum.