Health Literacy Level and its Related Demographic Factors among Employees of Iranian ‎Academic Center for Education, Culture & Research Khuzestan Branch (ACECR)‎

Health literacy of individuals have the capacity to obtain, ‎process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make proper health ‎decisions. Considering the importance of health literacy in all strata of society,this study aimed ‎to assess the level of health literacy in employees of Khuzestan-ACECR.‎ This analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 209 staffs of ‎Khuzestan-ACECR. Sampling from different units of Khuzestan-ACECR was done randomly ‎Data collection questionnaire consisted of demographic information and Iranian Health ‎Literacy Questionnaire (HELIA). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 23 ‎using descriptive statistics and by using the analytical test such as independent T test and one-‎way ANOVA.‎ The health literacy score of the research units was 73.13 ± 12.29.The results showed ‎that 2.4% of participants had inadequate health literacy, 27.3% not so inadequate literacy, ‎‎48.8% adequate health literacy, and 21.5% excellent health literacy. The mean of access to ‎health information and reading in women was better than men, and the mean difference ‎between the two groups was statistically significant (P <0.05). Among the different ‎dimensions of health literacy, between dimension of decision-making and age (P = 0.008), ‎insurance status (P = 0.006) and work experience (P = 0.005) showed a significant statistical ‎relationship.‎ Overall, the findings of this study indicated that most participants in the study ‎had adequate health literacy. Therefore, appropriate educational planning and considering the ‎above mentioned variables, it seems necessary to maintain and improve the level of health ‎literacy of employees.‎