A Survey on the Level of Health Literacy among the Women in Bardaskan City, Iran, in Year 2016: A Cross-Sectional Study

Health literacy refers to individuals’ ability to acquire, analyze, and understand basic health information and services, required to make decisions on health and health-related issues. The current study was conducted to investigate the level of health literacy among the women in Bardaskan City, Iran, and the factors affecting it.
This was a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study conducted on 431 women aged 18 to 65 years in Bardaskan city, who were selected using cluster sampling method in year 2016. The data were collected using Health Literacy for Iranian Adults Questionnaire (HELIA). Data analysis was performed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests via SPSS software.
Findings: The mean age of participants was 29.90 ± 8.74 years. Health literacy had a significant relationship with age, marriage, education, history of illness, and occupation. The health literacy score among the participants was 67.6 ± 16.1 out of 100, which showed an average level. The most important sources of health information from the participant’ points of views included physicians and health staff, the internet, and radio and television, respectively. 57% of participants with a history of disease had inadequate health literacy.
In general, the health literacy of most women participating in this study was modest. Given the important role of women in family and community education, and the impression of health literacy on this important role, it is necessary to design and implement educational programs aimed at promoting the level of health literacy among the women and, consequently, self-care skills.