[Health Literacy in Germany before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic]

The aim of this study was to compare the general and digital health literacy (HL) of the German population before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and during its persistence and to investigate different changes in population groups.

The analyses are based on population representative cross-sectional data collected in 2019/2020 before and 2020 during the pandemic. An internationally coordinated questionnaire (HLS₁₉) was used. Changes in groups were analyzed bivariate.

The results showed that the HL of the population in Germany tended to improve during the pandemic. This effect was especially evident with regard to the evaluation of health information and in the area of digital HL. Women, people with low or medium education, younger people and those with a migration background appeared to have benefited to a more than average extent. For older people, there was no change, and for those with multiple chronic conditions, the results even indicated a worsening.

The systematic exposure to clearly structured and continuously repeated health information during the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have improved the ability to process health-related information in the German population. In particular, there has been an increase in competence in dealing with digital information media, which are being increasingly used to communicate health information. However, there are some large differences between different population groups.