Health literacy: Prevalence and determinants in Lagos State, Nigeria

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.

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).

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).

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.