Health literacy among adults in Yazd, Iran

The purpose of this survey was to assess the health literacy levels and determine the relationship between health literacy with demographic variables and the socioeconomic status Three hundred and eighty adults, 18 years and older, were randomly selected and assessed by the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA) instrument in two sections of reading comprehension and numeracy. The second instrument used to detect the relationship between the demographic variables and socio-economic status and the level of health literacy of the subjects of adults in Yazd district. Three hundred and eighty adults, 18 years and older, were randomly selected and assessed by the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA) instrument in two sections of reading comprehension and numeracy. The second instrument used to detect the relationship between the demographic variables and socio-economic status and the level of health literacy of the subjects. The mean score of a participant's health literacy was 73.33 ± 1.29. Fifty-four percent of the individuals had adequate health literacy and the rest of them had limited health literacy. The mean score of functional health literacy was significantly different by socio-economic status (p0.05) and the years of schooling (P = 0.00). On the basis of linear regression, in this research, the years of schooling (B0.28, p0.01) and marital status (B = 3.08, p0.05) were two predictors of health literacy.