Health Literacy of University Students and its Influential Factors: A Case Study at Isfahan University

Health literacy plays a central role in determining health inequalities in society. Considering the important role of university students in the formulation and implementation of future policies and plans of the country, this study aimed to determine the level of health literacy of university students and identify the factors affecting it.

This was a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study. The study population included 380 university students who were studying at Isfahan University in the second semester of the academic year 2018-2019. They were entered into the study by stratified and available sampling method. The data gathering tool was the health literacy for Iranian adult’s questionnaire (HELIA). Collected data were analyzed using SPSS 23 software and descriptive statistics and logistic regression.

The mean score of health literacy was 77.96±16.96 of 100. 2.4% of students had inadequate health literacy, 32.3% had not so adequate health literacy, 46.4% had adequate health literacy and 18.9% had excellent health literacy. Health literacy was significantly associated with the variables of the educational level and the faculty of studying the students (p<0.05).

The health literacy of the students participating in the study is at a desirable level. Also, health literacy is associated with the variables of the educational level and the faculty of studying the students and graduate students and Basic science students have higher levels of health literacy.