A comparative study on students' health literacy in two faculties of Ardabil university of medical sciences in Iran, 2020
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/issn.2454-2156.IntJSciRep20221836Keywords:
Health literacy, Student, University of medical sciences, Ardabil, IranAbstract
Background: Health literacy is a multidimensional concept to promote and maintain of health in the community. Students of the medical sciences are considered as a promoter of health in the society and the evidence regarding health literacy in these students is limited, so the purpose of this study was to determine and compare the students' health literacy in two faculties of Ardabil university of medical sciences in Iran.
Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 280 students of the Pardis and health schools were randomly sampled and examined. Data collection tool was a native standard questionnaire (HELIA). Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics. The data was examined using statistical software (SPSS version 20).
Results: The results of this study showed that the level of health literacy in Pardis students was significantly higher than students of the health faculty (p=0.000). There was a significant increase in the level of students' health literacy with the increase of academic years in the fields of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy (p=0.009). There was no significant relationship between health literacy levels with field of study, gender, marital status and family income in both groups.
Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that the Pardis students (in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy fields) had sufficient health literacy and had a higher average than health students. In contrast, the health literacy of health students was assessed as insufficient. Given that medical students are the providers of future health care, it is recommended that the authorities do more to promote their health literacy.
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