Health Information Literacy Of Tuberculosis Patients in DOT Centers in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Health information literacy can play a critical role in controlling and managing tuberculosis. Low knowledge of tuberculosis coupled with inadequate health information literacy may lead to poorer treatment outcome. Despite being one of the most deadly infectious diseases, there are few empirical studies on the health information literacy of tuberculosis patients in Nigeria. Therefore, this study investigated the health information literacy of tuberculosis patients in DOT Centres in Lagos State, Nigeria.Material and Methods: The study employed a survey design. The sampling method used was a multi-stage sampling method. A total of twelve Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) Centres were selected across the three senatorial districts. A sample of size of 310 Tuberculosis patients was drawn using Taro Yamane formula. A structured and validated questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS version-23.Results: The findings of the study revealed that respondents had a high level of health information literacy in their ability to identify specific health information needs, access information sources and use information. The respondents also demonstrate the ability to obtain health information more easily from printed sources than from the internet. However, their ability to understand health information easily and evaluate quality health information was low.Conclusion: The study outcome indicates that health information literacy of the respondents can be improved upon. As a result, efforts should be made to educate tuberculosis patients on how to evaluate and comprehend health information by improving their understanding of health- related terminologies and assessing reliable health information.