Health literacy and its association with postural habits and awareness in office workers

Objectives. Office workers face musculoskeletal problems due to prolonged sitting. Although their health literacy levels are adequate, the impact of this on posture habits has not been examined. This study investigates this relationship. Methods. A total of 274 office workers (aged 20-50 years) were surveyed via online and face-to-face methods between September 2023 and December 2023,. Sociodemographic data (age, gender, education) were recorded and health literacy and postural behavior were assessed using the short form health literacy scale and the postural habit and awareness questionnaire. Results. Mean scores were 33.31 ± 7.97 for health literacy and 58.48 ± 7.78 for postural awareness. No significant correlations were found between health literacy and posture habit and awareness (ρ = 0.30, p = 0.18), awareness of posture-impairing factors (ρ = -0.40, p = 0.50) or ergonomic awareness (ρ = 0.03, p = 0.60). However, health literacy weakly correlated with positional awareness (ρ = 0.167, p = 0.006). Conclusion. Office workers demonstrate moderate health literacy and postural awareness. The lack of a substantial relationship suggests that general health literacy may not translate into better postural habits or awareness. Domain-specific scales are recommended for future studies to capture more nuanced effects.