Health literacy: Prevalence and determinants in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background Poor health literacy has been associated with poorer physical and mental health function, and higher emergency department and hospital utilizations. The study was conducted to measure the prevalence of health literacy and its determinants among Lagos State residents. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in three local government areas in Lagos State. Health literacy was assessed using the Brief Health Literacy Screening tool (BHLS), a three-item tool with possible scores ranging between 3 and 15. Health literacy was classified as inadequate (� 9) or adequate (>9). Results A total of 1831 respondents participated in the study, among whom, 952 (52%) were women. The mean age of respondents was 31.7 (±10.5) years. Three-quarters (74.8%) of respondents had adequate health literacy. Adequate levels of health literacy were associated with being female (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.07-1.71), frequent use of the broad cast media as source of information (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.03-1.70), frequent use of the internet as source of information (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.13-1.96). Adequate health literacy was also associated with having knowledge of a frequently prescribed antibiotic (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.32-2.12) and being more comfortable with the use of the English language (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.32-2.22). Conclusion Gender, the use of broadcast media and the internet are predictive of adequate health literacy and should be taken into consideration in planning health interventions.

Health Literacy and Diabetes Knowledge: A Nationwide Survey in a Multi-Ethnic Population

“…Age, education, language barriers, low literacy levels, and existing medical conditions were shown to be related to inadequate HL [18]. Another study that employed the Brief Health Literacy Screen (BHLS) reported a HL of 74.8% in residents of Lagos, Nigeria [19]. The HL of the participants varied across studies and between countries based on the domain of HL measured (functional, interactive or critical) and sociodemographic characteristics of the participants.…”

“…Another study reported that 56.3% of a clinical sample with rheumatic disease had adequate HL [25]. As with the previous global studies on HL [17][18][19][20], both the studies employed different assessment tools for capturing HL (Short Test of Functional Health Literacy and Rapid Estimation of Adult Literacy in Medicine), thus making comparisons across the studies difficult. Another study from Singapore used a subscale (four items) from the Health Literacy Questionnaire to capture the relationship between various domains of HL (finding information, appraising, understanding to act and managing their health) with the mode of health information seeking [26].…”

Health Literacy Cross-Sectional National Survey in Cameroon General Population

“…This none significant relationship between gender and HL is usually observed [27,46]. In some studies, gender was positively linked to HL after standardisation of age [55] and was also found in some sub-Saharan Africa countries [41] such as Ghana [32] and Nigeria [58]. However, in another study in Beijing, Chinese women were 1.14 times more likely to have adequate HL than men [54].…”

Building a Health Literacy Indicator from Angola Demographic and Health Survey in 2015/2016

“…Luanda, the capital, leads the ranking of the six provinces with the top prevalence of a high health literacy level (53%), followed by Namibe (31.6%), Bengo (27.1%), Zaire (26.2%), Benguela (24.4%) and Cabinda (23.4%). This results must take into account the poverty index of the Angolan population [ 25 , 46 ], firstly because poverty is an important determinant of health literacy [ 8 , 37 , 38 ], and secondly, because the place where people live influences learning opportunities, the quality of schools, teacher certification and experience, and the development of adequate health literacy [ 47 , 48 ]. A systematic review on the differences between health literacy levels in urban and rural settings showed that rurality alone is not a risk factor for low literacy, yet when accompanied by the aforementioned factors and a health system that does not prioritize easy access to health care in rural areas, important disparities in health literacy may occur between urban, suburban and rural areas, particularly in developing countries [ 31 , 40 , 41 ].…”