Health literacy and preventive behaviors
Health literacy (HL) is defined as the capacity of a person to acquire, interpret, and understand basic information and health services that is necessary for proper decision making. Some researchers believe that HL is a stronger predictor of health as compared to variables such as age, sex, income,...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Gonabad University of Medical Sciences
2018-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Research & Health |
| Online Access: | http://jrh.gmu.ac.ir/article-1-1513-en.pdf |
| Summary: | Health literacy (HL) is defined as the capacity of a person to acquire, interpret, and understand basic information and health services that is necessary for proper decision making. Some researchers believe that HL is a stronger predictor of health as compared to variables such as age, sex, income, employment status, education level, and race [1]. HL can be an effective factor in increasing health behaviors such as adoption of preventive behaviors [2]. Studies on the relationship between HL and the adoption of preventive behaviors report controversial results. While the results of a study indicate that there is no significant relationship between HL and mammography [3], other studies in this regard have concluded that a low level of HL are related to the adoption of less preventive behaviors such as screening tests [4], performing less Pap smear and breast self-examination [2], less involvement in mammography, doing less physical activity and smoking [5], and performing less screening of prostate and colorectal cancers [3]. |
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| ISSN: | 2423-5717 2423-5717 |