Measuring Health Literacy in Southern Italy: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction Health Literacy (HL) is an important determinant of individual health. Limited HL is an increasing problem affecting the general population. This study aims to assess the level of HL in patients attending outpatient medical facilities in general medicine located in Naples and Caserta and investigate the association of HL with health behaviours and health status. Materials and methods The study involved patients attending outpatient medical facilities in general medicine. The questionnaire had four sections-the sociodemographic information, the 16-items version of the European Health Literacy Survey questionnaire, the general self-efficacy scale (GSE) and the health status scale (EQ-VAS). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the sociodemographic determinants of HL. The Pearson correlation coefficients were determined to compare HL with health behaviours (GSE) and health status (EQ-VAS). Results The study showed that 61.6% of 503 patients had a low level of HL. After the multivariate analysis, HL was found to be higher among patients with higher education level and general self-efficacy score �30. There were no differences in HL between the age groups and people with or without chronic diseases. HL was stronger correlated with GSE than with EQ-VAS (0.53 vs 0.27). Conclusion This is the first study on HL for Southern Italy. It showed a low level of HL. As the sample was not representative of the reference population, we cannot derive a corresponding conclusion for the general population of Southern Italy. Therefore, more data in Italy are needed to plan actions for improving HL.

Health Literacy, Socio-Economic Determinants, and Healthy Behaviours: Results from a Large Representative Sample of Tuscany Region, Italy

“…First of all, if the distribution of HL level in the population is consistent with results from the European Health Literacy surveys [ 3 ] and some Italian studies [ 29 , 30 ], we found higher HL level compared to other Italian studies [ 20 , 31 , 32 ]. Particularly, Lorini et al [ 20 ] using HLS–EU–Q6 found a prevalence of problematic HL level twice as high as that shown in our study.…”

Patient Preferences of Low-Dose Aspirin for Cardiovascular Disease and Colorectal Cancer Prevention in Italy: A Latent Class Analysis

“…Furthermore, only a third of the study participants had adequate health literacy, which may have limited their understanding of the study materials. However, similarly low levels of health literacy were observed in another study in Italy [ 44 ], and no major issues with the final survey were detected in cognitive pilot interviews. Finally, this study was performed in a single country with only a quarter of the participants having a college education.…”

Where do you live? North versus Central-South differences in relation to Italian patients with oral lichen planus: a cross-sectional study from the SIPMO (Italian Society of Oral Pathology and Medicine)

“…This gap affects life expectancy between those living in central-southern and northern regions and can reach up to three years in favor of the latter [ 34 ]. Notably, inequalities in health service delivery, in term of access to primary care across regions of the country, is well known and affects the ability of poorer performing regions to provide access to high-quality health care services [ 36 , 37 ]. Indeed, the population of the northern regions is generally more satisfied than in the past with the hospital care received; in contrast, in the central-southern regions, the level of satisfaction expressed by patients decreased from 1999 to 2017 in almost all regions [ 37 ].…”