Assessment of health literacy among outpatient clinics attendees at Ain Shams University Hospitals, Egypt: a cross-sectional study

- Most of our study population has limited health literacy.
- The level of functional health literacy (FHL) is solely contingent upon gender.
- The level of comprehensive health literacy (CHL) relies on gender and education.
- Low FHL correlates with low CHL.
- Questions pertinent to mental health demonstrated the highest perceived difficulty.

ObjectivesThe aim of conducting this study is to measure health literacy (HL) and to investigate the factors associated with inadequate HL in a sample of outpatient clinics attendees (i.e. patients and companions) at Ain Shams University (ASU) Hospitals.Study designIt is a cross-sectional study.MethodsThe study was conducted on 805 attendees of the outpatient clinics at El-Demerdash University Hospital of ASU Hospitals. The Arabic versions of the Swedish Functional Health Literacy Scale and the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire-short version-were used to assess HL. The level of HL and factors influencing it were analyzed using correlation and binary logistic regression tests.ResultsIt was found that 81% of the participants had limited comprehensive health literacy (CHL; 34.3% inadequate and 46.7% problematic), while only 18.9% had sufficient CHL. Regarding functional health literacy (FHL), it was found that 84% had limited FHL (50.6% inadequate and 33.4% problematic), while only 16.1% had sufficient FHL. Females were more likely to have inadequate FHL. On the other hand, males, individuals with low educational levels, and attendees identified as patients as well as participants with inadequate FHL were more likely to have inadequate CHL.ConclusionThe majority of our study population has limited HL. Extensive research is warranted to explore the extent of the problem on multi-institutional and national levels and to investigate more explanatory factors.