Assessing health literacy in rural settings: a pilot study in rural areas of Cluj County, Romania

Abstract

Health literacy improves knowledge and builds skills to help individuals make appropriate decisions regarding their health. Over the past 20 years, several studies have described associations between health literacy and health outcomes. With respect to Romania, evidence is scarce on the level of health literacy, as well as on its determinants. Thus, the objectives of this study were to briefly screen functional health literacy levels in a sample of rural inhabitants, to assess the relationship between health literacy and reported health status, as well as to explore health literacy determinants within this population. Data were collected between September-November 2010, in four villages in Cluj County, Romania, using a cross-sectional survey. The mean age of respondents in the sample was 56 years, with roughly half of respondents being retired. The brief screening of health literacy suggested inadequate to marginal levels within the sample. Significant associations were observed between health literacy score and education, and self-perceived health status, whereas the relationship between health literacy and gender, and the presence of a chronic disease was not statistically significant. Limited health literacy has been shown to be common in people who rated their health as poor, those who attended only middle school, and individuals lacking basic information about their body. In order to minimize the adverse effects of low health literacy on health and health outcomes, efforts should be invested in identifying and addressing the health needs of adults with low and marginal health literacy, especially in underserved areas such as rural and remote settings, where access to health-related information is limited.

Health Literacy, Smoking, and Health Indicators in African American Adults

“…This is in line with prior research suggesting that low HL is associated with poorer perceived general health (Baker et al, 1997; Gazmararian et al, 1999; Lee et al, 2009; Pop et al, 2013; Sudore, Mehta, et al, 2006; Williams et al, 1995) and poorer physical health (Bennett et al, 2009; Gazmararian et al, 1999; Howard et al, 2006). Most of this work has been conducted with elderly and non-Latino White adults, and these studies used complex and time-consuming measures of HL.…”

“…Those with HL difficulties are less likely to engage in preventive behaviors such as cancer screening (Davis, Williams, Marin, Parker, & Glass, 2002; Ramirez et al, 1999). Findings also suggest that individuals with lower HL report worse perceived general and physical health than those with higher HL (Baker, Parker, Williams, Clark, & Nurss, 1997; Bennett, Chen, Soroui, & White, 2009; Gazmararian et al, 1999; Howard, Sentell, & Gazmararian, 2006; Lee, Arozullah, Cho, Crittenden, & Vicencio, 2009; Pop, Brînzaniuc, Sirlincan, Baba, & Chereches, 2013; Sudore, Mehta, et al, 2006; Williams et al, 1995). In the general population, worse perceived health is associated with poor health outcomes including mortality (Idler & Benyamini, 1997).…”

"A Community-Based Intervention for Increasing Access to Health Information in Rural Settings"

“…The IRIS initiative and the results we are reporting are important from at least two perspectives: (1) they add to the body of information and literature on health literacy in Romania, which is currently scarce (Monceanu, 2015), and (2) they respond to the needs of rural inhabitants identifi ed in the only health literacy-based study conducted in Romanian rural sett ings, which highlights low levels of health literacy among rural inhabitants (Pop et al, 2013). While access to health information was also found to be limited in most Transylvanian rural areas due to the lack of community libraries or the lack of health-related resources in the existing libraries (Baba et al, 2010), no information is available on the level of self-effi cacy in searching for health information among the Romanian rural population.…”

Factors related to COVID-19 severity and mortality based on comparison between Henan and Zhejiang: an observational study

“…Therefore, we speculate this group of infected persons are migrant workers and return to Henan before the Spring Festival. The medical level and health literacy in rural areas are always lower than urban areas (20,21). These group of infected persons predict to cause their family members infection, which is difficult to control.…”