A Cross-Sectional Assessment of Health Literacy among Hypertensive Community of Quetta City, Pakistan

Farrukh Shahzad¹, Fahad Saleem¹, Qaiser Iqbal¹, Naheed Haque¹, Sajjad Haider¹, Muhammad Salman², Imran Masood³, Mohamed Azmi Hassali⁴, Shehla Iftikhar⁵, Mohammad Bashaar*⁶ and Tafseera Hashemi⁷

Received: November 19, 2018;   Published: December 04, 2018

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.11.002141

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Abstract

Background: We aimed to assess the Health Literacy (HL) among hypertensive community of Quetta city, Pakistan. Methods: A questionnaire based, cross sectional survey was conducted at Sandeman Provincial Hospital, Quetta. The Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) was used to assess the health literacy level. The cutoff values of having adequate / poor HL were calculated by Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve. Where significant associations were reported, effect size was calculated by using Kendall tau correlation coefficient.

Results: Two hundred and eight five patients responded to the survey with mean age of 45.22±10.13 years. Females dominated the cohort (159, 55.8%), and 78% of the respondents were married. The scores for the first five domains of HLQ ranged from 11.63 - 15.70. Domain 2 (having sufficient information to manage my health) was significantly associated with educational status (p = 0.005) and locality (p = 0.022). The appraisal of health information (domain 5) was also significantly associated with educational status (p = 0.003) and locality (p = 0.004). Urban respondents had sufficient information about health management and reported better appraisal of health information. Interpretation of significant association among educational status revealed positive moderate correlation (τ = 0.300 and 0.436 respectively for domain 2 and 5) whereby respondents with higher education were likely to have sufficient information to manage their health and had better judgment of assessing health-related information. The scores for the remaining four domains (6 - 9) ranged from 17.67 - 21.86. All domains (6-9) were significantly associated (p < 0.05) with locality whereas urban respondents having better HL when compared with their counterparts.

Conclusion: Considering the lower HL, a reorientation of the health policy is recommended. Additionally, collaborative efforts must be undertaken by the government, the health care institutions, civil society and mass media to design and implement effectual interventions for improving HL.

Keywords : Health Literacy; Hypertensive Community; Quetta City; Pakistan

Abbreviations : HL: Health Literacy; GDP: Gross Domestic Product; WHO: World Health Organization’ ; SPH: Sandeman Provincial Hospital; HLQ: Health Literacy Questionnaire; PHC: Primary Health Centre; BHUs: Basic Health Units; RHCs: Rural Health Centers