The mediating role of health anxiety on the relationship between health literacy, death anxiety and quality of life

The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the mediating role of health anxiety on the relationship between health literacy, death anxiety and quality of life. The research method was descriptive-correlation and structural equation modeling. The statistical population was all the students of Ardakan University in the academic year of 2013-2014, and 334 of them were selected using available sampling method. To collect data, Health Literacy Questionnaire of the Urban Population of Iran, Health Anxiety Questionnaire, Death Anxiety Questionnaire and World Health Organization's Quality of Life Questionnaire SF-36 were used. The findings showed that health literacy and death anxiety have a direct and significant effect on quality of life, health literacy on health anxiety, and death anxiety on health anxiety. Health literacy and death anxiety influence quality of life through the mediation of health anxiety. From the findings of the present research, we can understand the necessity of improving the level of health literacy to improve the quality of life and mental health.