An Examination of the Health Literacy Level of Patients Presenting at the Psychiatry Clinic

Year 2020, Volume: 3 Issue: 3, 31 - 40, 31.12.2020

Celaleddin Turgut , Muhammed Mustafa Beyoğlu , Avşar Durur

Abstract

Aim: To determine the level of health literacy of patients presenting at the Psychiatry Polyclinic.
Material and Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study were obtained with the Adult Health Literacy Scale (AHLS) and a descriptive questionnaire. In the statistical evaluations, descriptive statistics, the Independent Samples t-test, Chi-square analysis, ANOVA, and non-parametric tests were used.
Results: The mean AHLS score was determined to be 11.20 for females and 13.78 for males, with a statistically significant difference between the genders (p<0.05). When the study subjects were separated into age groups, the AHLS scores were found to be statistically significantly higher in the 20-29 years group than in the ≥50 years age group, and in the 30-39 years group than in the ≥60 years group (p<0.01). The subjects with a profession and a higher level of education (high school/university) were determined to have a statistically significantly higher AHLS score (p<0.05). Those with a chronic disease had a significantly lower AHLS score than those without (11.20 vs. 12.97) (p<0.01). In patients with neurotic disorders, the AHLS scores were found to be statistically significantly high (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that the level of health literacy of patients presenting at the Psychiatry Polyclinic was lower in females, those with no occupation, a low level of education (illiterate/primary school), advanced age (≥50 years) and chronic disease, and those with mood or psychotic disorders, compared to the other subjects.

Keywords

Health literacy, chronic disease, psychiatric disorder

Psikiyatri Polikliniğine Başvuran Bireylerin Sağlık Okuryazarlık Düzeyinin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Aim: To determine the level of health literacy of patients presenting at the Psychiatry Polyclinic.
Material and Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study were obtained with the Adult Health Literacy Scale (AHLS) and a descriptive questionnaire. In the statistical evaluations, descriptive statistics, the Independent Samples t-test, Chi-square analysis, ANOVA, and non-parametric tests were used.
Results: The mean AHLS score was determined to be 11.20 for females and 13.78 for males, with a statistically significant difference between the genders (p<0.05). When the study subjects were separated into age groups, the AHLS scores were found to be statistically significantly higher in the 20-29 years group than in the ≥50 years age group, and in the 30-39 years group than in the ≥60 years group (p<0.01). The subjects with a profession and a higher level of education (high school/university) were determined to have a statistically significantly higher AHLS score (p<0.05). Those with a chronic disease had a significantly lower AHLS score than those without (11.20 vs. 12.97) (p<0.01). In patients with neurotic disorders, the AHLS scores were found to be statistically significantly high (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that the level of health literacy of patients presenting at the Psychiatry Polyclinic was lower in females, those with no occupation, a low level of education (illiterate/primary school), advanced age (≥50 years) and chronic disease, and those with mood or psychotic disorders, compared to the other subjects.

Keywords

kronik hastalıklar, psikiyatrik bozukluklar, sağlık okuryazarlığı

References

• 1. Health literacy and health behaviour [Internet]. 2011 [cited 10 November 2020]. Available from: https://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/7gchp/track2/en/.
• 2. Parker RM, Williams MV, Weiss BD, Baker DW, Davis TC, Doak CC, et al. Health literacy-report of the council on scientific affairs. Jama-Journal of the American Medical Association. 1999;281(6):552-7.
• 3. Barrett SE, Puryear JS. Health literacy: improving quality of care in primary care settings. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2006;17(4):690-7.
• 4. Nutbeam D. Health literacy as a public health goal: a challenge for contemporary health education and communication strategies into the 21st century. Health Promotion International. 2000;15(3):259-67.
• 5. Tanrıöver Durusu M, Yıldırım H, Ready Demiray F, Çakır B, Akalın E. Türkiye Sağlık Okuryazarlığı Araştırması. Sağlık ve Sosyal Hizmet Çalışanları Sendikası Sağlık-Sen Yayınları-25, Ankara. 2014:14-26.
• 6. Sezer A, KADIOĞLU H. YETİŞKİN SAĞLIK OKURYAZARLIĞI ÖLÇEĞİ’NİN GELİŞTİRİLMESİ. Anadolu Hemşirelik ve Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi. 2014;17(3).
• 7. Sørensen K, Pelikan JM, Röthlin F, Ganahl K, Slonska Z, Doyle G, et al. Health literacy in Europe: comparative results of the European health literacy survey (HLS-EU). European journal of public health. 2015;25(6):1053-8.
• 8. Paasche‐Orlow MK, Parker RM, Gazmararian JA, Nielsen‐Bohlman LT, Rudd RR. The prevalence of limited health literacy. Journal of general internal medicine. 2005;20(2):175-84.
• 9. Berens E-M, Vogt D, Messer M, Hurrelmann K, Schaeffer D. Health literacy among different age groups in Germany: results of a cross-sectional survey. BMC public health. 2016;16(1):1151.
• 10. Zhang Y, Zhang F, Hu P, Huang W, Lu L, Bai R, et al. Exploring health literacy in medical university students of Chongqing, China: a cross-sectional study. PloS one. 2016;11(4):e0152547.
• 11. van der Heide I, Rademakers J, Schipper M, Droomers M, Sørensen K, Uiters E. Health literacy of Dutch adults: a cross sectional survey. BMC public health. 2013;13(1):179.
• 12. Vozikis A, Drivas K, Milioris K. Health literacy among university students in Greece: determinants and association with self-perceived health, health behaviours and health risks. Archives of Public Health. 2014;72(1):15.
• 13. Ergun S. Health literacy in school of health students. Kocaeli Medical Journal. 2017;6(3):1-6.
• 14. Williams MV, Baker DW, Parker RM, Nurss JR. Relationship of functional health literacy to patients' knowledge of their chronic disease: a study of patients with hypertension and diabetes. Archives of internal medicine. 1998;158(2):166-72.
• 15. Rickwood D, Cavanagh S, Curtis L, Sakrouge R. Educating young people about mental health and mental illness: evaluating a school-based programme. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion. 2004;6(4):23-32.
• 16. Yakar B, Gömleksiz M, Pirinççi E. Bir Üniversite Hastanesi Polikliniğine Başvuran Hastaların Sağlık Okuryazarlığı Düzeyleri ve Etkileyen Faktörler. Euras J Fam Med 2019;8(1):27-35.
• 17. Gazmararian JA, Williams MV, Peel J, Baker DW. Health literacy and knowledge of chronic disease. Patient education and counseling. 2003;51(3):267-75.
• 18. Kitchener BA, Jorm AF. Mental health first aid training: review of evaluation studies. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 2006;40(1):6-8.
• 19. Lincoln A, Espejo D, Johnson P, Paasche-Orlow M, Speckman JL, Webber TL, et al. Limited literacy and psychiatric disorders among users of an urban safety-net hospital's mental health outpatient clinic. The Journal of nervous and mental disease. 2008;196(9):687-93.
• 20. Galletly C, Neaves A, Burton C, Liu D, Denson LA. Evaluating health literacy in people with mental illness using the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults. Nursing outlook. 2012;60(5):316-321