Health Literacy

Objective: In this era, the internet becomes a common source of health information worldwide. In this study, we understand the influence of the internet on health-seeking behavior among university students in Pakistan. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted during this study. A random sample of university students (n=300, mean=28.97 and SD= 4.580) participated in this survey. Results: This study had good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.8). In addition, eHealth is found to be associated with the Healthcare provider's degree program, semester and age, as well as they, are important in health information seeking behavior. Conclusion: This study supports that students' health seeking behavior using the internet is an important part of making a health decision.

This research intended to develop and validate a Covid-19 Literacy Scale (CLS). This study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, items were generated based on an extensive literature review, public advisory platforms, and public service messages related to Covid-19. After that these statements were submitted to a panel of experts for content and face validity. While in the second phase, a cross-sectional survey was conducted using students of three universities from the province of Punjab, Pakistan for construct validity and reliability. An online questionnaire was administered among students with permission from the concerned authorities. A total of 369 responses were received which were imported in SPSS for data analysis. The construct validity was assessed through exploratory factor analysis and the reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach alpha coefficient. The results indicated a 23-items scale structured into two dimensions, namely, ‘infection spread and symptoms’ (11 items) and ‘infection prevention and treatment’ (12 items), Each statement had loading strengths greater than .56 and the model explained 66.6% of the total variance. The values of reliability coefficient for overall scale (CA = .970) as well as for both sub-dimension such as ‘infection spread and symptoms’ (CA = .957) and ‘infection prevention and treatment (CA = .936) were great. The correlation coefficients of test-retest ranged from 0.71 to .87 which also appeared at a satisfactory level. Thus, the newly developed instrument appeared as a reliable and valid measure for the Covid-19 literacy assessment. This research would make a worthwhile contribution to health literacy in general and Covid-19 literacy in particular as no such scale was available in the existing literature.

Objectives: Diabetic patients with higher health literacy (HL) may feel more confident in their ability to perform self-care behaviors and may have strong beliefs that diabetes related behaviors will lead to specific outcomes. Our study aimed to document the relationships between HL, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and diabetes self-care of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Iran.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study of 187 patients with T2DM. Participants completed the Functional Communicative and Critical Health Literacy scale, the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities, the Diabetes Management Self-Efficacy Scale, Outcome Expectations Questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire.
Results: Participants who received diabetes education (t = 5.79, p<0.001) and were married (F = 3.04, p<0.050) had better diabetes self-care behavior. There was a significant positive correlation between self-care behaviors and communicative HL (r = 0.455, p<0.010), critical HL (r = 0.297, p<0.010), self-efficacy (r = 0.512, p<0.010) and outcome expectations (r = 0.387, p<0.010). Diabetes education and marital status accounted for 16.9% of the variance in diabetes self-care. Self-efficacy, outcome expectations, communicative, and critical HL explained 28.0%,1.5%, 3.7%, and 1.4% of the variance, respectively.
Conclusions: This study revealed that the potential impact of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, communicative, and critical HL should be considered in the education program for patients with diabetes. We found self-efficacy to be the most important predictor of diabetes self-care. Therefore, the use of self-efficacy theory when designing patient education interventions could enhance diabetes self-care. It is essential that health care providers assess patient’s HL levels to tailor health-related information specific to a domain of HL. This would fully inform patients and promote empowerment rather than simple compliance.

In the digital age, it is critical for both healthcare professionals and consumers to electronically express, receive, and process important health information. This is especially true for populations with language barriers and low literacy. Visual literacy and health literacy enable optimal health communication and wellbeing. A standardized interface terminology is a linguistic tool that can be used to convey health information at the human-computer interface. The Omaha System has been evaluated and found to be a promising standard for use as a simple, standardized terminology that may promote health literacy and communication between healthcare professionals and consumers. However, a method for visually representing health concepts described by the Omaha System has not been developed. The purpose of this study was to develop a complete set of 42 icons that convey the meaning of each of the 42 Omaha System problem concepts as defined by Martin (2005). Design thinking, universal design methods, and informal survey evaluations were used to determine appropriate imagery for the icons. Data-based revisions were incorporated after each of three informal survey evaluations. The resulting set of 42 icons for Omaha System problem concepts is available in the public domain. Future plans are to conduct extensive global evaluation of concept validity and usefulness of the icons across literacy levels.

For self-monitoring of blood glucose by people with diabetes, the reliability of the measured blood glucose values is a prerequisite in order to ensure correct therapeutic decisions. Requirements for system accuracy are defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in the standard EN ISO 15197:2003. However, even a system with high analytical quality is not a guarantee for accurate and reliable measurement results. Under routine life conditions, blood glucose measurement results are affected by several factors. First, the act of performing measurements as well as the handling of the system may entail numerous possible error sources, such as traces of glucose-containing products on the fingertips, the use of deteriorated test strips, or the incorrect storage of test strips. Second, ambient and sampling conditions such as high altitude, partial pressure of oxygen, ambient temperature, and the use of alternate test sites can have an influence on measurement result...

There is a well-documented absence of inclusive school-based sex and relationships education (SRE) for Australian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Moreover, relatively few studies specifically examine how bisexual and queeridentifying young Australian women experience SRE. This qualitative study addresses the gap and contributes new perspectives by examining bisexual and queer young women’s experiences of school-based SRE in the state of Tasmania through the lens of sexual citizenship. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 15 Tasmanian bisexual and queer young women, we argue that biomedical, risk-based and heteronormative approaches to SRE reduce young women’s sexual health literacy. By framing SRE around the concept of ‘sexual citizenship’, this article provides important guidance on how SRE can more effectively provide bisexual and queer young women with the skills they need to be effective, engaged sexual citizens.