Health literacy strengths and limitations among rural fishing communities in Egypt using the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ)

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 7; p. e0235550
• Main Authors: Anwar, Wagida A, Mostafa, Nayera S, Hakim, Sally Adel, Sos, Dalia G, Abozaid, Dena A, Osborne, Richard H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 16-07-2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; Biology and Life Sciences; Chronic illnesses; Community; Computer and Information Sciences; Data collection; Dimensional measurement; Earth Sciences; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Evaluation; Fishers (Persons); Fishing; Fishing communities; Health aspects; Health education; Health literacy; Health promotion; Health services; Information management; Literacy; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; People and Places; Personal health; Questionnaires; Radio communications; Rural population; Social interactions; Social Sciences; Egypt; Cairo Egypt
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235550
• EISSN: 1932-6203

Health literacy is an important determinant of health. The aim of this study was to use a multi-dimensional measurement tool to describe the health literacy of people living in a fishing community in northern Egypt. Data were collected from 436 people (fisherman and their families), using the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ), which includes 9 scales. Effect sizes (ES) for standardized mean differences estimated the magnitude of difference between demographic groups. The mean age of participants was 42 years, 50% were male, 42% were working in the fishing sector, 17.9% had access to the Internet and 36.8% were illiterate. Male participants showed higher capabilities in scales 3. Actively managing my health and 4. Social support for health (ES = 0.21 and 0.27, respectively). In comparison to other occupations, fishing occupation had a negative impact on scale 7. Navigating the healthcare system (ES -0.23). Also, higher educational level was associated with higher HLQ indicators. Across all scales, scale 2. Having sufficient information to manage my health showed the lowest mean (SD) score; 2.23 (0.76) indicating that most people reported they didn't have enough information. This study has revealed that fishermen and their families have a wide range of health literacy difficulties which are likely to have profound negative effects on health behavior and health outcomes.