Health Literacy and Associated Factors in Medical Students

Authors : Yasemin Durduran, Mehtap Yücel, Lütfi Saltuk Demir, Atakan Tekinalp

Pages : 56-62

Doi:10.38175/phnx.1385674

View : 47 | Download : 87

Publication Date : 2024-07-04

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Objective: This study aims to determine the health literacy levels of medical students and to investigate the variables that may be associated with health literacy. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 702 students studying in the first three years of the Necmettin Erbakan University, Faculty of Medicine. After obtaining ethical and written permission, the data of the study were collected between January and February 2023. For the research, a data collection form consisting of 53 questions was prepared by the researchers. The Turkish Health Literacy Scale-32 (TSOY-32) was used in the last part of the data collection form. SPSS 28.0 package was used for data entry and analysis. Statistical significance was accepted at p<0.05. Result: Of the 702 students included in the study, 59.3% were female. The mean general index score of the participants on the TSOY-32 scale was 31.77 (26.04-36.45). According to the scores, 20.9% of the students had inadequate health literacy and 37.7% had problematic-limited health literacy. The TSOY-32 score of the first year students was significantly lower than that of the other two years. The TSOY-32 score was significantly higher than the other groups in those who reported that people with more income than their expenses most often use health care facilities for preventive services and in those who reported having heard about the concept of health literacy (p<0.05). Conclusion: As a result of this research, it was found that more than half of the students had insufficient or problematic limited level of health literacy.
Keywords : Sağlık okuryazarlığı, tıp fakültesi, tıp, öğrenci