Health Literacy Levels of Vocational School of Health Services Students and Related Factors

Abstract

Introduction: The concept of health literacy requires individuals to have basic health knowledge in order to use health services correctly and effectively, and this is very important. Considering that research in the field of health literacy in our country is not yet at a sufficient level, it was aimed to determine the level of the concept of health literacy, which is gaining importance, among students of vocational schools of health services and related factors. Methods: The research is a descriptive cross-sectional type, and the population of the research consists of students studying at vocational schools of health services at Izmir Tinaztepe University, Ege University, Pamukkale University and Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University. Individual Introduction Form and Health Literacy Scale were used as data collection forms. Results: 1370 students participated in the research. The average age of the students is 20.29±2.86 years, 78.5% are female and 21.5% are male. It was determined that 24.6% of the students smoked and 22.4% consumed alcohol. The proportion of students participating in the research who read books frequently is only 31.4%. It was determined that 46.7% of the students in the research group knew the concept of health literacy. It was determined that the average score of the students in the research group on the health literacy scale was 110.24±12.22. In addition, it was determined that the average of the subscales, the access to information dimension, was 21.93±2.96, the average of the information understanding dimension was 31.17±3.58, the average of the evaluation/evaluation dimension was 35.40±4.57, and the average of the application/use dimension was 21.74±3.13. According to the findings of the research, it was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between the health literacy scale scores of the students according to their gender, family structure and literacy level, income level, smoking status, book reading frequency and general health status (p<0.05). Conclusion: The health literacy levels of the students participating in the research are sufficient and high. Removing the factors that negatively affect the level of health literacy from individuals' lives and lifestyles should be planned comprehensively. It is also recommended to plan activities that will increase the level of health literacy during university education. Studies and activities should be planned to address the fact that students, who are in a field such as healthcare, where human relations are intense and technological developments and innovations are constantly experienced, do not read books frequently enough. It is also recommended that male students be provided with more support mechanisms to increase their health literacy level.