Health Literacy and Its Sociodemographic Predictors: A Cross-Sectional Study of a Population in Madrid (Spain)

Abstract

Background: Health literacy enhances a population’s self-care capacity and helps to reduce health inequalities. This work examines the health literacy of a population attending primary care services and explores its relationship with sociodemographic factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted at a healthcare center in the Madrid region (Spain), involved adult patients requiring primary care nursing services. One hundred and sixty-six participants were recruited via systematic random sampling. Health literacy was measured using the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ). Results: The studied population showed higher health literacy scores for literacy dimensions 1 (feeling understood and supported by healthcare providers) and 4 (social support for health); the lowest scores were recorded for dimensions 5 (appraisal of health information) and 8 (ability to find good health information). People with a better perceived health status showed a higher level of health literacy. People over 65 years of age, those with an incomplete secondary education, and those who were unemployed returned lower scores for several literacy dimensions. Conclusions: The results contribute to our understanding of the factors that influence health literacy. Identifying the areas in which patients show the poorest health literacy may help us comprehend their needs and better support them.

Relationship between the Health Literacy and Self-Medication Behavior of Primary Health Care Clientele in the Hail Region, Saudi Arabia: Implications for Public Health

“…Because of their greater experience with the healthcare system and their more established relationships with their doctors, older people may be better equipped to handle these challenges. This finding supports those of other investigations [ 58 , 59 ], differing from what was observed in other studies [ 32 , 60 ]. Previously, in examining contradictory findings about the relationship between age and health literacy, van der Heide et al [ 61 ] concluded that age was related to decreased health literacy in various health literacy domains.…”

“…They also outperformed the norm in terms of both the frequency of doctor visits [29] and the consistency with which they implemented their doctors' recommendations. Numerous studies involving a wide range of participants found similar results [29,30]; however, past investigations concluded otherwise [31][32][33]. This disparity may emerge because it is possible that the lack of social and familial assistance for health issues is related to the fact that these individuals tend to live alone.…”

Health literacy as mediator between perception of illness and self-medication behaviour among outpatients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Implication to Primary Healthcare Nursing

“…Older patients may be better suited to dealing with the di culties of the healthcare system because of their greater familiarity with it and their longer history with their physicians. While we do not see this in countries other than KSA [32,33], it is consistent with the results of other studies [34,35]. The ndings of this study have important repercussions for PHC personnel, as they suggest that young adults should be a key focus of any future efforts to improve health literacy.…”

Factors Influencing eHealth Literacy among Spanish Primary Healthcare Users: Cross-Sectional Study

“…Based on data from a prior study on health literacy, the sample size was calculated, assuming the population to be infinite [ 11 ]. The present research included 166 subjects.…”