Abstract Preview
Abstract
Title Assessing Health Literacy among Health Sciences students in a coastal town of southern India – A cross-sectional study. |
Type Poster Presentation Only |
Theme Global Health Literacy Summit 2021 |
Topic Health literacy in professional training and performance (incl Medical / Health Professions Schools, Occupational therapy etc.) |
Authors
Main Author Arathi Rao1 |
Presenting Author Arathi Rao1 |
Co-Author Kumar Sumit1 Soundarya Mahalingam1 Mariam Sophia1 Shradha Sikaria1 Karen Lobo1 Yara Shireesha1 |
Authors' Institution
Department / Institution / Country Health Policy / Prasanna School of Public Health / India1 |
Abstract Content (abstracts should be written in Size 11 font, Arial font style) Background: Health literacy refers to the knowledge and competencies of people to meet the complex demands of health in modern society. Healthcare professionals play an essential role in helping patients to obtain and understand health information. It is important to assess the health literacy of students of health science professions as they can contribute to enhancing the health literacy of the communities in the future. Objective: The study aimed to measure the levels of health literacy among students attending different health-related courses in a university situated in the coastal town of southern India using the HLS-EU-Q16 (Health Literacy Survey-European Union). Methods: A cross-sectional study using a self-administered health literacy survey in google forms questionnaire was conducted among 812 students enrolled among various health-related courses of which 770 students were taken for final analysis. The index scores were recoded into four health literacy categories as follows (according to thresholds established by the HLS-EU consortium): excellent (>42-50); sufficient (>33-42); problematic (>25-33); and inadequate (0-25). Key Results: The overall average health literacy score was 31.3 ± 4.4, which indicates that health literacy among the students was limited. The average health literacy score of the students of the medical college, dental college, and allied health sciences (AHS) was 32.8, 32.4 and 30.7, respectively, indicating only sufficient health literacy among the different courses individually. Conclusion: The level of health literacy gives important leads to initiate curricula and educational activities including interdisciplinary courses to upgrade it among future health care professionals. |
Requires Audio or Video system for Presentation?: No