جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « Health Literacy » در نشریات گروه « پزشکی »

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is one of the most important public health issues, and the evaluation and improvement of COVID-19 health literacy and self-care can be effective in preventing its spread. This study was conducted to investigate the health literacy of COVID-19 and its relationship with self-care among the health ambassadors of Urmia in 2021.

In this descriptive-analytical study, 400 health ambassadors of Urmia were selected using the cluster random sampling method. The data-gathering tool was a questionnaire, including questions about self-care, COVID-19 health literacy, and demographic information. The data were analyzed by SPSS 19 using analysis of variance and regression tests.

COVID-19-related health literacy was reported to be at a good level (63.5%) in most health ambassadors. In addition, it had a statistically significant relationship with the level of education and economic status. Similarly, there was a significant relationship between self-care and demographic characteristics such as age, gender, level of education, occupation, and economic status (P>0.05). On the other hand, according to data analysis results, with an increase in health literacy related to COVID-19, regression modeling could predict 22% of self-care behaviors in the participants of the present study.

Overall, there is a need for interventions by healthcare professionals for training to increase health literacy related to COVID-19 that results in self-care and adoption of health behaviors in health ambassadors, given the significance of COVID-19-related health literacy and its effects on self-care in these ambassadors.

The findings of this study can be presented to the Deputy of Health and healthcare providers so that actions can be taken to promote health literacy and self-care and prevent similar epidemics.

Parents play a significant role in determining children’s oral health behaviors. Oral health literacy (OHL) refers to on one’s ability in understanding and employing oral health information in order to maintain good oral health. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between parental OHL and children’s oral health status.

Methods and Materials:

 This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study included female students attending a private school in Mashhad, Iran. This school was selected according to availability sampling. Students and their parents were invited to participate in this study and were enrolled using a census-based sampling method. Parents were asked to complete the oral health literacy standard questionnaire and their daughter’s DMFT or dmft index was measured by an oral hygienist. Parents’ demographic and social information were also recorded. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 26.00 statistical software. P-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

A total of 632 children participated in this study. Parents showed an average OHL score of 18.85±2.88. The average DMFT index of students was 2.04±2.27. There was a negative and statistically significant relationship between parent level of OHL and children’s DMFT index as well as the number of decayed permanent teeth (P=0.020 and P=0.026, respectively). There was a positive and statistically significant correlation between parental OHL and the number of primary teeth with fillings (P=0.019). Family income was the only social factor that was significantly associated with the child’s DMFT index (P<0.05). There was a significant correlation between parents’ age, gender, educational degree, and occupation and their level of OHL (P<0.05 for all).

The results of this study showed that promoting parental oral health can influence students' DMFT index. Therefore, developing interventions that can ameliorate parents’ level of oral health literacy can improve the oral health outcomes of students.

Health literacy expresses the capacity of a person to obtain, interpret and understand the necessary information for needed services and appropriate decisions in the field of health. In Iran, there is conflicting information about the health literacy status of people, especially medical and dental students, as well as the opinion that these students will enter the medical community later and it is necessary to check their literacy level; Therefore, in the present research, the level of health literacy of dental and medical students of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences was evaluated.

The present descriptive-cross-sectional study was conducted on 171 students of dentistry and medicine at Yasuj University of Medical Sciences in 2022. The sample size was selected by systematic random method and using Cochran's formula. The Health Literacy Questionnaire of Montazeri and colleagues (HELIA) was used to collect information. The data was analyzed using SPSS ver. 25 software and a significance level of 0.05.

Out of 171 students participating in the present study, 83 were male and 88 were female. Thirty-three of the participants were studying dentistry and 138 were studying medicine. 75.4% of students had sufficient health literacy and 6.4% had excellent health literacy. Based on the results, there was no statistically significant difference between the health literacy of dental and medical students of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences in terms of gender, being married or single, economic status and place of residence. According to the, entry year and age, there was a statistically significant difference (P<0.05).

Considering the active role of students, especially those in the fields of medicine and dentistry, in their own health and that of society, there is a need for a high level of health literacy among this segment of the population. The results of this study suggest that addressing this issue can be effective for officials and policymakers in creating conditions for necessary interventions to increase the health literacy level of students.

 Women referring to health centers are one of the most important groups at risk of disease. Thus, in order to enjoy a high level of health, it is necessary for them to have health literacy. The purpose of this research was to find the demographic predictors of health literacy in women referring to comprehensive health service centers in Zahedan, Iran.

This was a descriptive-analytical study including 400 women selected by random cluster sampling from health centers under coverage of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences in 2022. The short form of the HELIA standard questionnaire was used to measure health literacy of the women. Data were analyzed using SPSS-22 software, the statistical tests being ANOVA, Kendall's correlation, and multiple regression.

The subjects were between 18 and 60 years old. They were found to have obtained most of the information related to health and disease by asking doctors and healthcare workers (about 52.25%). The scores of the components of the subjects’ health literacy were as follows: average health literacy 69.91±23.34, reading 72.17±29.80, access 34.73±27.91, understanding 71.41±29.43, assessment 62.10±25.51, and the scope of decision-making and behavior 71.49±20.27. The strongest predictor of health literacy was found to be education, such that with an increase in the level of education, the health literacy of a woman would increase by 0.53 units. In addition, education variables, income level, age and ethnicity would predict 55% of the health literacy of the women.

This study shows that the health literacy score is related to age, education level, marital status, occupation, economic status and ethnicity, the strongest predictor of health literacy being the a high level of education. Therefore, considering the available evidence on the importance of health literacy and factors related to it and the low level of health literacy of women in this study, it is clear that women need to acquire, process and understand the basic information on health and therapeutic services in order to be able to make appropriate decisions. Briefly, women need to receive simple and understandable information and have more time to communicate with the health service personnel to understand health information.

Health literacy has been suggested as a prerequisite and index to ensure a healthy life. Spiritual health is one of the four dimensions of health. The literature review has indicated a connection between spirituality and health. This study investigates the relationship between spiritual health and health literacy among seminary students in Esfarayen City, North Khorasan Province, Iran.

This is a cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study that was conducted on 82 male and female seminary students in Esfarayen City. The samples were selected using the availability sampling method. The required data were collected through two questionnaires, namely the Paloutzian and Ellison’s Spiritual Well-Being Scale and the Health Literacy Instrument for Adults-Short Form.

The mean age of the study subjects was 21.15±5.89 years (range: 15-45 years). None of the participants had low spiritual health. Spiritual health was at a high level in 61% of individuals. In samples with high spiritual health, only 26% had less than sufficient health literacy, while this value was 59.4% in those with average spiritual health. It was found that in 61% of the participants, health literacy was at an adequate level or higher. In this study, a significant positive relationship was observed between health literacy and spiritual health (r=0.336, P=0.002). The mean score of spiritual health was higher in women (P˂0.001) and married individuals (P=0.006). Spiritual health showed no significant relationship with income status and education level (P<0.05).

Considering the synergistic and mutual effect of health literacy and spiritual health, paying attention to both aspects and planning to improve health literacy and spiritual health can play a significant role in people’s mental and physical health.

Addiction, as a complex psychiatric disorder and one of the major problems of societies, can lead to suffering and psychological distress for addicts and those around them. This research was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) in reducing psychological distress and increasing mental health literacy among men who were members of Narcotics Anonymous in Kermanshah.

This study was a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population included all men who were members of the Narcotics Anonymous Association of Kermanshah in 2022. Thirty people were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned into two equal groups. The experimental group received 8 sessions DBT (90 minutes session per week), but the control group did not receive any interventions. Demographic information checklist and Kessler et al psychological distress questionnaire and Ekonor & Casey's mental health literacy scale were used to collect data. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance MANCOVA.

The results of this research showed that the educational intervention reduced psychological distress (F=7.506, Eta=0.231, P=0.011), increased mental health literacy (F=12.619, Eta=0.375, P=0.002) of men who are members of Narcotics Anonymous has been significantly effective.

Based on the results of the current research and the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy on reducing psychological distress and increasing mental health literacy of the participants, it is recommended to use this new generation behavior therapy method in addiction-related interventions.

The positive and negative effects of value co-creation and patient participation in the field of digital healthcare and its feedback together and in the form of a model is a topic that has been less addressed. The main goal of this research is to investigate the effects of value co-creation on the effectiveness of digital healthcare platforms in the form of a dynamic process model.

In order to achieve the goals of the research, the indicators of the effectiveness of digital health platforms were extracted from the selected information society. In the next step, using the system dynamics approach and Vensim PLE software, the cause and effect diagrams of the three subsystems of the problem were drawn, and the research model was extracted in the form of an accumulation and flow diagram.

In this research, patient empowerment was considered as a bridge between value co-creation and effectiveness of digital health platforms. After carrying out the research steps, cause and effect diagrams of three process readiness subsystems, value network and process achievements were extracted. Then the research model was completed by adding its complexities and dynamics in the form of accumulation and flow diagram.

The obtained model, while depicting the dynamics of the problem, can be used as a reference for simulating and testing value co-creation development strategies in the effectiveness of digital health platforms. Although it is necessary to formulate and simulate the model to predict the effect of co-creation of value on the effectiveness of digital health platforms, but considering the prevalence of positive feedback over negative in the obtained model, it seems that paying attention to the approach of co-creation of value in the development of digital health functions has positive effects.

Depression literacy is an important concept and having adequate depression literacy can improve prevention, early diagnosis, intervention, and prognosis of depression. The current study is a short report on depression literacy in military personnel.

This was a cross sectional study. The statistical population of this study consisted of all military personnel who were referred to the psychology and counseling clinics of the military in Mashhad, Iran from May to September 2022, which included 1500 clients. Based on Cochran's sample size formula, 300 military personnel completed the depression literacy questionnaires of Griffiths et al. and the second edition of Depression by Beck et al. The findings were analyzed with SPSS-24 software and Spearman`s correlation test.

Among the indicators of depression literacy, awareness of cognitive-behavioral symptoms received the lowest score while awareness of psychological symptoms obtained the highest score. Moreover, having a history of depression and the military deployment had a significant effect on the component of the signs and symptoms of depression (P<0.05).

Psychotherapists in barracks should teach new soldiers about the symptoms of depression and what can be the underlying factors of depression in military personnel and soldiers.

Medication adherence is one of the important health issues and key aspects of the desired quality of care in patients with diabetes, and one of the important factors affecting it is their health literacy. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the relationship between the level of health literacy and medication adherence in type 2 diabetes patients who referred to comprehensive health centers in Gorgan city during 2023.

This study was conducted cross-sectional on 400 patients with type 2 diabetes who referred to comprehensive health centers in Gorgan city in 2023. The data was collected by stratified sampling method according to the volume and in each stratum of the convenience type. Moriski medication adherence questionnaires (MMAS-8) and short version health literacy questionnaire (HELIA-SH) were used. Data were analyzed in SPSS software using independent t-test, chi-square, analysis of variance and Pearson correlation.

The average score of medication adherence and the total score of health literacy were 4.06 ± 1.46 and 36.47 ± 3.53, respectively. Among the participants in the study, only 8.20% of patients had high compliance and 16.80% had moderate compliance, and the rest (75%) had poor drug compliance. Patients' medication adherence had a direct and significant relationship with basic health literacy skills (P=0.004, r=0.14) and decision-making skills (P=0.003, r=0.15).

The findings of this study showed that the majority of patients had poor medication adherence and the level of health literacy was related to the dimensions of medication regimen adherence in patients with type 2 diabetes.