Health literacy and associated factors among undergraduates: A university-based cross-sectional study in Nepal

Abstract

Health literacy is one of the most critical aspects of health promotion. Limited health literacy is also accounted for adverse health outcomes and a huge financial burden on society. However, a gap exists in the level of health literacy, especially among undergraduates. This study aimed to assess the levels of health literacy and its socio-demographic determinants among undergraduate students of Tribhuvan University, Nepal. A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 469 undergraduate students from five institutes of Tribhuvan University, Nepal. The 16-item short version of the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16) was used to measure students’ health literacy levels. Associated factors were examined using Chi-square tests followed by multivariate logistic regression analyses at the level of significance of 0.05. Nearly 61% of students were found to have limited health literacy (24.5% had “inadequate” and 36.3% had “problematic” health literacy). Female students (aOR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1–2.5), students from non-health related majors (aOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.2–3.0), students with unsatisfactory health status (aOR = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.7–4.5), students with poor financial status (aOR = 2.9, 95% CI: 1.2–6.8) and students with low self-esteem (aOR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.5–4.1) were significantly more likely to have limited health literacy. The majority of the undergraduates were found to have limited health literacy. Gender, sector of study, self-rated health status, self-rated financial status, and self-esteem were significantly associated with limited health literacy. This study indicates university students should not be assumed to be health-literate and interventions to improve students’ health literacy especially for those whose majors are not health-related should be implemented. Further studies using a longer version of the health literacy survey questionnaire and qualitative methods to explore more on determinants of health literacy are recommended.

Reproductive Health Literacy and Associated Factors among High School Adolescents in Boke District, Oromia Region, Eastern Ethiopia

“…Male adolescents had lower odds of having limited reproductive health literacy compared to their female counterparts (AOR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.26, 0.88). Even though comparable literature is lacking speci c to reproductive health literacy, the present nding is supported by previous studies [31,32], which reported higher odds of limited health literacy among female participants.…”

Insights of literacy on preventive behaviors of non-communicable diseases in Bangladesh: descriptive types of cross-sectional study among female university students

“…The finding regarding lower monthly income as predictor of low literacy is consistent with the results of some studies conducted among university students (Zhang et al, Evans et al, Svendsen et al, Bhusal et al). 11,12,14,17 In the contrary, health literacy was not associated with parent's highest level of education as reported in previous studies. 11,14,[18][19][20] This contrast observation is not well understood and needs to be explored prospectively in future research.…”

“…The reason behind the reflection of such reverse scenario might be the difference in study settings as the countries are rich enough in order to the economic development levels, health resource allocations, and access to health information compared to Bangladesh (majority of the respondents had monthly family income less than 40000 BDT), Ghana and Nepal. 11,12 However, the contrast observation reported in the similar studies conducted among the Dutch adults and the Turkish university students, where females were found to have better literacy rather than male. 14,15 As Bangladeshi citizens belong the patriarchal culture where males tend to have all the fundamental opportunities dominantly rather than female, that's why such disproportions might be attributed in this study.…”

“…This finding is consistent with other university-based studies in Ghana and Nepal. 11,12 Likewise, in Europe such population-based study showed 47% limited (insufficient or problematic) literacy on NCDs among the citizens of eight European countries. 13 On the other hand, university-based studies in USA and Canada reported better levels of health literacy (about 7%-15% limited health literacy).…”

Tobacco Use and Its Associated Factors among Undergraduate Public Health Students in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

“…e undergraduate stage is crucial as it is the transition period from teenager to young adult, moving out of home and relying less on parents to make daily life decisions. It is usually seen that risk-taking behaviors begin to manifest during this stage [3,[6][7][8]. Also, college students are easy targets for the tobacco industry; young people like them are bombarded with protobacco messages and sometimes offered free tobacco products [8].…”