Abstract :
Introduction: Health literacy plays a vital role in health education and health promotion and
has received increasing attention as a means to improve health outcomes and reduce health
inequality. The students’ awareness of health literacy and their weaknesses in this area are
essential for educational planning.
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the health literacy of non-medical college students
and it’s affecting factors.
Materials and Methods: This is a correlational study conducted on 250 non-medical
students at the Islamic Azad University of Rasht branch, Rasht City, Iran in the academic
year 2018-2019. They were selected using a random sampling method. The data collection
tool was the Health Literacy For Iranian Adults (HELIA) questionnaire. The collected data
were analyzed using the descriptive and analytical statistics (t-test, the Pearson correlation
test, and the Chi-square test).
Results: The Mean±SD of the HELIA score was 68.44±12.72 (out of 100). About 6.8% of
students had inadequate health literacy, 29.6% problematic health literacy, 54.4% adequate
health literacy, and 9.2% excellent health literacy. Students had the highest score in the
dimensions of understanding Mean±SD (77.11±15.82) and access Mean±SD (72.35±16.73),
while in decision-making and applying health information Mean±SD (55.62±15.01) they had
the lowest score. There was no statistically significant correlation between students’ age and
health literacy scores, but a statistically significant relationship was reported between their
gender and health literacy levels (P=0.049). The Internet (54.8%) and physicians and health
workers (27.2%) were the most important sources of information about health for students.
Conclusion: Many students lacked sufficient health literacy. Since most of them received
information about health issues through the Internet, educational health programs and
contents can be provided to them through the Internet and social networks.
