Assessing Health Literacy among Health Science Students in a Coastal Town of Southern India – A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Health literacy refers to the knowledge and competencies of persons to meet the complex

demands of health in modern society. Healthcare professionals play an essential role in helping patients to

obtain and understand health information. It is important to assess the health literacy of students of health

science professions as they can contribute to enhancing the health literacy of the communities in the future.

Objective: The study aimed to measure the levels of health literacy among students attending different

health-related courses in a university situated in the coastal town of southern India using the HLS-EU-Q16

(Health Literacy Survey-European Union). Methods: A cross-sectional study using a self-administered

health literacy survey in google forms questionnaire was conducted among 812 students enrolled among

various health-related courses of which 770 students were taken for final analysis. The index scores were

recoded into four health literacy categories as follows (according to thresholds established by the HLS-EU

consortium): excellent (>42-50); sufficient (>33-42); problematic (>25-33); and inadequate (0-25). Key

Results: The overall average health literacy score was 31.3 ± 4.4, which indicates that health literacy among

the students was limited. The average health literacy score of the students of the medical college, dental

college, and allied health sciences (AHS) was 32.8, 32.4 and 30.7, respectively, indicating sufficient health

literacy among the different courses individually. Conclusion: The level of health literacy gives important

leads to initiate curricula and educational activities, including cross-disciplinary courses.