Development of health literacy among postgraduate students: From information literacy perspective

OBJECTIVES: Involving the patients in health-related decisions requires high health literacy. Health literacy is related to the concept of information literacy through its emphasis on information skills. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between information literacy and health literacy. STUDY DESIGN: We carried out an original research. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is an applied research that is carried out in a survey method. The statistical population of this study is MSc and PhD students at School of Health Management and Information Science in Iran University of Medical Sciences who were selected by stratified random sampling. A standard health literacy questionnaire including access dimensions, reading skills, comprehension, evaluation, decision-making, and application of health information was used to assess the health literacy status of the students. To measure information literacy, the questionnaire includes identifying information needs, locating information, organizing information, and evaluating information were used. The data were analyzed by tests of one-sample t-test, Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression with spss software version 18 produced by IBM located at New York. RESULTS: The results showed that the level of information literacy among students was higher than the average level. The average of information literacy rate in the sample is 49.09. In this regard, the most frequent information is gained from the internet, interacting with friends, and asking practitioners and health workers. In addition, there is a positive and significant relationship between all dimensions of information literacy with health literacy and information literacy affects 35.4% of health literacy changes. CONCLUSIONS: It can be said that information literacy is a predictor of health literacy. Furthermore, the pattern of people's health information has moved to new information environments and to improve health having sufficient information seeking and information literacy skills are essential.