Assessment of health literacy of municipal employees in Shemiranat, Iran

BACKGROUND: Health literacy is one of the major determinants of health promotion among individuals and within society. OBJECTIVE: The present study is aimed to determine the health literacy status of office employees in Shemiranat using the native instruments of health literacy for Iranian adults (HELIA). METHODS: The present descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was done in 2016–17. It was conducted on 360 office employees in Shemiranat. The samples were selected using a multi-stage simple random sampling method. Data collection tools in this study included HELIA questionnaire. The data were imported into SPSS v.18 software and then analyzed using descriptive statistical indices (mean, SD, number, and percentage) and inferential statistics (Chi-square, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, Spearman’s correlation coefficient, and Kruskal-Wallis test). Written informed consent was obtained from the employees participating in the study and they were assured about confidentiality. Also, they were informed that participation was voluntary. RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation of the total health literacy score among the studied individuals was 125.99±16.01. The mean score of health literacy in the areas of reading (15.36±2.89) and evaluation (5.01±2.8) among the studied individuals was lower than other dimensions of health literacy. Based on the Chi-square test, there was a statistically significant relationship between health literacy and education level, occupational rank, work place, and work experience (p=0.0001 in all the cases). The individuals with medium and good levels of health literacy acquired most of their health-related information through the Internet, friends, relatives, physicians, and health staff. CONCLUSION: Health literacy status was not sufficient among the studied staff. Thus, it is recommended to perform promotional interventions in order to improve the health literacy status and its dimensions among these staff.