AİLE SAĞLIĞI MERKEZLERİNE BAŞVURAN HASTALARIN SAĞLIK OKURYAZARLIĞI DÜZEYİNİN DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ: ÇANKAYA İLÇESİ ÖRNEĞİ

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the health literacy level of patients applied to Family Health Centers. Materials and Methods: ‘‘The Health Literacy Questionnaire’’ developed by the European Union was used to determine the level of health literacy of the patients in this cross-sectional study. The population of the study was composed of adult patients who applied to the Family Health Centers in Çankaya and live in same district. Çankaya is the district with the highest socio-economic level in Turkey. Five hundred patients from 25 Family Health Centers participated in the study. Results: The mean of overall health literacy index of the patients was 30.25±7.28. It was observed that 20.90% of the patients had inadequate, 48.30% had limited, 24.90% had sufficient and 5.90% had excellent health literacy. It was found that the general level or sub-indices of patients’ health literacy differed significantly by age, educational status, working status, monthly income status, general health status, having a chronic disease, number of visits to family physician and visits by family physician in the last 12 months (p <0.05). Conclusion: The health literacy of the majority of patients is insufficient or limited. This reveals the need to carry out activities aimed at increasing health literacy.